NOV Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:NOV)

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 20,108 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,464% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,286 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOV. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in NOV by 12,344.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,309,433 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $179,718,000 after acquiring an additional 12,210,514 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP bought a new position in NOV during the fourth quarter valued at $39,495,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of NOV by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,793,128 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $245,178,000 after buying an additional 1,934,243 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in NOV by 85.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,784,096 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $55,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,748,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in NOV by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,718,408 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $83,489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652,917 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NOV Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NOV stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $11.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,670,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,780,845. NOV has a 52-week low of $10.87 and a 52-week high of $21.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $14.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 7.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.34.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. NOV had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 9.88%. Equities analysts expect that NOV will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Atb Cap Markets downgraded NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Evercore ISI reissued 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. Raymond James increased their price target on NOV from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, ATB Capital reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of NOV in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.60.

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.