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

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

Institutional Trading of NOV

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NOV by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 581,446 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $8,489,000 after acquiring an additional 56,665 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its stake in NOV by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 3,291,042 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $48,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,666 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of NOV by 120.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 473,545 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,561,000 after purchasing an additional 258,392 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of NOV by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,983 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of NOV by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 397,149 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $5,798,000 after buying an additional 20,952 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NOV Trading Up 2.4 %

NOV stock opened at $11.89 on Friday. NOV has a 1-year low of $10.84 and a 1-year high of $21.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $13.56 and its 200-day moving average is $14.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.35.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced its quarterly 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). NOV had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that NOV will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NOV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on NOV from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of NOV from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on NOV from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of NOV from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NOV from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

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.