NOV Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:NOV)

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 2,616 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,353% compared to the average volume of 180 put options.

Institutional Trading of NOV

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in NOV during the 4th quarter valued at about $314,000. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NOV during the fourth quarter worth about $234,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in NOV by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,182,044 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $75,658,000 after purchasing an additional 938,866 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in NOV by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 590,771 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $8,625,000 after purchasing an additional 62,733 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in NOV by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 131,280 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

NOV Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:NOV opened at $13.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $12.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.05. 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 has a 1-year low of $10.84 and a 1-year high of $21.20.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.06). NOV had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 7.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that NOV will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 note on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of NOV from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of NOV from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of NOV from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of NOV from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.44.

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.