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

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 2,616 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,353% compared to the typical volume of 180 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of NOV from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded NOV from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on NOV from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of NOV from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of NOV from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three research 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 an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in NOV by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,793,128 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $245,178,000 after buying an additional 1,934,243 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NOV by 12,344.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,309,433 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $179,718,000 after acquiring an additional 12,210,514 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in NOV by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,697,650 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $97,815,000 after acquiring an additional 302,009 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in NOV by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,718,408 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $83,489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,652,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in NOV by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,182,044 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $75,658,000 after purchasing an additional 938,866 shares in the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NOV Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOV traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $12.16. The company had a trading volume of 3,258,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,885,751. NOV has a one year low of $10.84 and a one year high of $21.20. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $14.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.46. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.55, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.35.

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

NOV Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. NOV's payout ratio is currently 18.63%.

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.