Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on NOV (NYSE:NOV)

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 2,616 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,353% compared to the typical daily volume of 180 put options.

NOV Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NOV stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $15.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,727,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,712,668. NOV has a 52-week low of $14.98 and a 52-week high of $21.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.54. The company has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.98, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.66.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.07%.

Institutional Trading of NOV

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in NOV by 22.3% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 43,027,106 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $687,143,000 after acquiring an additional 7,851,220 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NOV by 23.1% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 37,153,173 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $593,336,000 after acquiring an additional 6,963,660 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of NOV by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,138,093 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $230,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470,860 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in NOV by 67.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,928,911 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $188,749,000 after purchasing an additional 3,989,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in NOV during the 1st quarter valued at about $119,686,000. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NOV shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on NOV from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI raised NOV to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of NOV in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of NOV in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of NOV from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.64.

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.