Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on NOV (NYSE:NOV)

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on NOV from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of NOV in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded NOV from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. ATB Capital set a $33.00 target price on NOV and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of NOV in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NOV news, CAO Christy Lynn Novak sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.43, for a total transaction of $61,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 114,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,990,715.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NOV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of NOV by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 762,999 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,961,000 after purchasing an additional 108,845 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in NOV by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 175,860 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $3,449,000 after buying an additional 23,430 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in NOV by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 13,935 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in NOV by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 39,557 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in NOV by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,976 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 2,962 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

NOV Price Performance

NOV stock opened at $18.50 on Friday. NOV has a 52 week low of $14.05 and a 52 week high of $21.91. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.74.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $1.10. NOV had a net margin of 11.57% and a return on equity of 10.79%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that NOV will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.97%.

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.