Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 31,884 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 34% compared to the average volume of 23,880 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVO has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $160.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVO. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 200.0% during the second quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 113.0% during the second quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NVO traded up $0.72 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,227,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,330,596. The company has a market cap of $505.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.16, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.19. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $94.73 and a 1 year 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 0.46.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $9.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.91 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 87.43% and a net margin of 34.86%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.5126 per share. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is currently 24.66%.

About Novo Nordisk A/S

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.