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

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 56,398 call options on the company. This is an increase of 35% compared to the average daily volume of 41,869 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NYSE NVO opened at $87.16 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $78.17 and a 1-year high of $148.15. The company has a market capitalization of $391.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $92.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is 23.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Novare Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 2,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.1% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 9,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% during the third quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 5.1% during the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 2,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

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.