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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup cut NOV from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target 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. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of NOV in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. ATB Capital restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of NOV in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on NOV from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NOV presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NOV news, Director David D. Harrison sold 1,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.10, for a total value of $28,722.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 110,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,786,311.10. This trade represents a 1.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NOV

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOV. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,574,188 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its position 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 increased its holdings in shares of NOV by 120.1% in 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 during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in NOV by 519.1% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 438,068 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,000,000 after purchasing an additional 367,308 shares in the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NOV Price Performance

NYSE:NOV opened at $14.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.39, a P/E/G 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $15.40 and its 200 day moving average is $16.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

NOV Dividend Announcement

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

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.