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

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

Institutional Trading of NOV

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of NOV by 40.0% during 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 raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $188,749,000 after purchasing an additional 3,989,095 shares during the period. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in NOV in the 1st quarter valued at about $119,686,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in NOV by 232.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,888,891 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $92,938,000 after purchasing an additional 3,418,885 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company's stock.

NOV Stock Down 0.8 %

NOV traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $16.11. 568,873 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,707,329. The stock has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.99, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.66. NOV has a 1-year low of $14.98 and a 1-year high of $21.23. The stock's 50-day moving average is $16.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. NOV's payout ratio is 11.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on NOV shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of NOV in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on NOV from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded NOV to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on NOV from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.64.

NOV Company Profile

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.