NOV Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:NOV)

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 2,616 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,353% compared to the average daily volume of 180 put options.

NOV Stock Performance

NOV opened at $15.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.65. NOV has a 1-year low of $14.98 and a 1-year high of $21.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.38. The firm has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.90, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.66.

NOV Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other NOV news, Director David D. Harrison sold 1,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.10, for a total transaction of $28,722.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 110,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,786,311.10. This trade represents a 1.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NOV

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of NOV by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,706 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in NOV by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,496 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in NOV by 3.1% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 29,481 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 889 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of NOV by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 29,729 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. raised its stake in shares of NOV by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 49,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NOV. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of NOV from $28.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on NOV from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of NOV from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of NOV from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NOV currently 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.