Novo Nordisk A/S Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:NVO)

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 56,398 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 41,869 call options.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $85.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $385.16 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.45. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $78.17 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $92.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.19.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 86.32% and a net margin of 35.03%. Sell-side analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,074,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,125,000 after acquiring an additional 80,070 shares during the last quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC now owns 63,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,482,000 after purchasing an additional 19,870 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth $86,000. Talbot Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth $4,066,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 57.0% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 18,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,207,000 after buying an additional 6,726 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NVO. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Company Profile

Novo Nordisk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research and development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North America, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Diabetes and Obesity Care, and Rare Disease.