Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 31,884 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 34% compared to the typical volume of 23,880 put options.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 1st quarter valued at $849,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 14.9% during the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 313,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,227,000 after acquiring an additional 33,463 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 3,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NVO opened at $111.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.93. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $94.73 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 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $502.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.34, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.42.

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). Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 34.86% and a return on equity of 87.43%. The business had revenue of $9.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.91 billion. Equities analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.