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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on NOV from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $25.00) on shares of NOV in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on NOV from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on NOV from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on NOV from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NOV has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.60.

NOV Price Performance

NOV stock traded down $0.32 on Friday, reaching $15.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,040,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,893,540. 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 company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.64. The business's fifty day moving average price is $14.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.90. NOV has a twelve month low of $13.94 and a twelve month high of $21.20.

NOV (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts expect that NOV will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. NOV's payout ratio is 18.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in NOV by 88.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,200 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in NOV in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in NOV by 222.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in NOV by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company's stock.

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.