Investors Purchase Large Volume of NOV Put Options (NYSE:NOV)

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 2,616 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,353% compared to the typical daily volume of 180 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on NOV from $16.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on NOV from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on NOV from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $25.00) on shares of NOV in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

NOV Stock Down 3.7 %

NOV stock opened at $14.95 on Thursday. NOV has a twelve month low of $13.94 and a twelve month high of $21.23. The company has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a PE ratio of 5.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.07%.

Insider Activity at NOV

In related news, Director David D. Harrison sold 1,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.10, for a total value of $28,722.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 110,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,786,311.10. This trade represents a 1.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NOV

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in NOV by 3.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 29,729 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in NOV by 2.1% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 49,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in NOV by 11.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 11,060 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in NOV by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 51,567 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verum Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of NOV by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 15,050 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.