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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of NOV in a report on Monday, July 29th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of NOV in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NOV has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NOV. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of NOV in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in NOV during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in NOV by 1,590.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,735 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in NOV during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in NOV by 67.6% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,443 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

NOV Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOV opened at $15.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 5.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. NOV has a 1 year low of $14.98 and a 1 year high of $21.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.32 and its 200-day moving average is $17.73.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.07%.

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.