Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on NOV (NYSE:NOV)

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

NOV Stock Down 3.1 %

NOV stock opened at $11.63 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.62 and a 200-day moving average of $14.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. NOV has a twelve month low of $10.84 and a twelve month high of $21.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 7.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.35.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. NOV had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 7.16%. NOV’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NOV will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOV. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of NOV by 88.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,200 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in NOV by 282.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,240 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,655 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of NOV during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of NOV by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of NOV from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their target price on NOV from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn lowered NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Susquehanna cut their price target on NOV from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of NOV from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NOV currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.38.

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.