NOV Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:NOV)

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 20,108 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,464% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,286 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NOV. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of NOV from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of NOV from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on NOV from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.60.

NOV Stock Down 7.0 %

Shares of NOV stock opened at $11.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.22. NOV has a 52-week low of $10.84 and a 52-week high of $21.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. NOV had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 9.88%. On average, equities research analysts expect that NOV will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. NOV’s payout ratio is 18.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of NOV by 88.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,200 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of NOV by 282.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,240 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of NOV in the third quarter worth $36,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings 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 period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NOV by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.