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

Key Points

• Traders bought a high volume of 104,911 call options for Novo Nordisk A/S, marking a 45% increase over the average volume.
• Analyst ratings have been mixed, with HSBC upgrading Novo Nordisk from "hold" to "buy," while Morgan Stanley downgraded it from "overweight" to "underweight."
• Novo Nordisk A/S shares increased by 6.5% to $59.08, with a recent quarterly earnings report showing a profit of $0.97 per share, exceeding estimates.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 104,911 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 45% compared to the average volume of 72,123 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.6% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 22,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,556,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 13,597 shares of the company's stock valued at $944,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 4,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,014 shares of the company's stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NVO shares. HSBC upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an "overweight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $59.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Monday. Berenberg Bank upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. BNP Paribas upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.33.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 6.5%

Shares of NYSE NVO traded up $3.59 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.08. The company had a trading volume of 18,297,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,129,940. The company's fifty day moving average price is $55.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.17. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $45.05 and a 12 month high of $120.56. The stock has a market cap of $263.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 78.64% and a net margin of 35.60%.The company had revenue of $11.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.51 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.4119 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 240.0%. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.53%.

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.

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