Stock Traders Purchase High 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 company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,353% compared to the average daily volume of 180 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on NOV in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down previously from $25.00) on shares of NOV in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on NOV from $28.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NOV presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

NOV Price Performance

NYSE:NOV opened at $14.95 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.43. The company has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.66. NOV has a 52-week low of $13.94 and a 52-week high of $21.23.

NOV Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. NOV’s payout ratio is presently 11.07%.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $16.10, for a total value of $28,722.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 110,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,786,311.10. This trade represents 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 the SEC website. 1.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in NOV by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 29,729 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in shares of NOV by 2.1% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 49,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of NOV by 11.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 11,060 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 1,163 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NOV by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 51,567 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Finally, Verum Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of NOV by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 15,050 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.