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

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

NOV Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE NOV opened at $14.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.66. NOV has a 12-month low of $13.94 and a 12-month high of $21.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.67.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. NOV’s payout ratio is currently 11.07%.

Insider Activity at NOV

In other NOV 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 transaction of $28,722.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 110,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,786,311.10. This trade represents a 1.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NOV

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its stake in NOV by 1,194.1% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,706,017 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $32,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574,188 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in NOV by 1,866.3% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 841,078 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $15,989,000 after acquiring an additional 798,303 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in NOV by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 473,545 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,561,000 after acquiring an additional 258,392 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised 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 valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in NOV by 519.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 438,068 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,000,000 after acquiring an additional 367,308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Susquehanna decreased their target price on NOV from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on NOV from $28.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.14.

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.