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

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 2,616 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,353% compared to the average daily volume of 180 put options.

NOV Trading Up 12.5 %

Shares of NOV opened at $16.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.65. NOV has a 1 year low of $13.94 and a 1 year high of $21.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.16.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. NOV had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 10.82%. On average, equities analysts expect that NOV will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. NOV’s payout ratio is presently 11.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of NOV in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of NOV from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Atb Cap Markets cut NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price on NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, ATB Capital restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of NOV in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NOV news, Director David D. Harrison sold 1,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NOV

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOV. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of NOV by 222.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in NOV during the third quarter valued at $36,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of NOV in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NOV by 1,590.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 2,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of NOV during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

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.