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

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 2,616 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,353% compared to the average volume of 180 put options.

NOV Stock Down 0.1 %

NOV stock opened at $15.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.37. The company has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 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 has a fifty-two week low of $14.98 and a fifty-two week high of $21.23.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. NOV’s payout ratio is 11.07%.

Insider Transactions at NOV

In related news, Director David D. Harrison sold 1,784 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 110,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,786,311.10. This represents a 1.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NOV. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in NOV by 22.3% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 43,027,106 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $687,143,000 after buying an additional 7,851,220 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NOV by 23.1% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 37,153,173 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $593,336,000 after acquiring an additional 6,963,660 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of NOV by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,138,093 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $230,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470,860 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in NOV by 67.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,928,911 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $188,749,000 after acquiring an additional 3,989,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners acquired a new position in NOV during the 1st quarter valued at about $119,686,000. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NOV shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of NOV from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of NOV from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of NOV from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NOV presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.64.

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.