Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on NOV (NYSE:NOV)

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 2,616 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,353% compared to the average volume of 180 put options.

NOV Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:NOV opened at $14.50 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.91. NOV has a one year low of $13.94 and a one year high of $21.23. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.57.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NOV

In other news, Director David D. Harrison sold 1,784 shares of NOV stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.10, for a total value of $28,722.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 110,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,786,311.10. The trade was a 1.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOV. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NOV by 1,194.1% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,706,017 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $32,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574,188 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in NOV by 1,866.3% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 841,078 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $15,989,000 after acquiring an additional 798,303 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in NOV by 120.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 473,545 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,561,000 after acquiring an additional 258,392 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in NOV by 1,590.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,735 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of NOV by 519.1% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 438,068 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,000,000 after purchasing an additional 367,308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on NOV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of NOV from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Atb Cap Markets downgraded NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on NOV from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on NOV from $28.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.14.

NOV Company Profile

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.