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

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 2,616 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,353% compared to the average volume of 180 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NOV. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of NOV in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of NOV by 282.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,240 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,655 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of NOV in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of NOV by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NOV Price Performance

NOV stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $13.77. 4,050,961 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,126,105. NOV has a one year low of $10.84 and a one year high of $21.20. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

NOV (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.06). NOV had a net margin of 6.68% and a return on equity of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that NOV will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. NOV's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on NOV from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on NOV from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. 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 report on Thursday, April 10th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on NOV from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on NOV from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.38.

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.