Stock Traders Buy High Volume of NOV Put Options (NYSE:NOV)

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 2,616 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,353% compared to the average volume of 180 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOV. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in NOV during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in NOV in the 3rd quarter worth $381,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in NOV by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 646,973 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $13,522,000 after acquiring an additional 263,543 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in NOV by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 66,596 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 5,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in NOV by 144.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 91,168 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,905,000 after acquiring an additional 53,914 shares in the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NOV Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:NOV opened at $18.85 on Thursday. NOV has a fifty-two week low of $15.17 and a fifty-two week high of $21.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.82.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. NOV had a net margin of 11.23% and a return on equity of 10.21%. NOV’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NOV will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This is a positive change from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of NOV from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of NOV in a report on Monday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.07.

About NOV

NOV Inc designs, constructs, manufactures, and sells systems, components, and products for oil and gas drilling and production, and industrial and renewable energy sectors in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Energy Equipment, and Energy Products and Services. The company provides solids control and waste management equipment and services, managed pressure drilling, drilling fluids, premium drillpipe, wired pipe, drilling optimization services, tubular inspection and coating services, instrumentation, downhole tools, and drill bits.