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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on NOV shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on NOV from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on NOV from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on NOV from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on NOV from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NOV news, Director David D. Harrison sold 1,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,786,311.10. The trade was a 1.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NOV

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in NOV by 22.3% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 43,027,106 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $687,143,000 after purchasing an additional 7,851,220 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in NOV by 23.1% in 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 buying an additional 6,963,660 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in NOV by 40.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,138,093 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $230,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470,860 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in NOV by 67.2% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in NOV in the first quarter worth approximately $119,686,000. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NOV Stock Performance

Shares of NOV opened at $15.99 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 5.90, a PEG ratio of 0.94 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. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.38. NOV has a 52 week low of $14.98 and a 52 week high of $21.23.

NOV Dividend Announcement

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

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.