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

Key Points

• NOV Inc. experienced a significant surge in options trading, with an increase of 1,353% in put options, totaling 2,616 contracts acquired on Wednesday.
• Despite reporting revenue of $2.19 billion for the last quarter, NOV missed earnings estimates, posting $0.29 EPS compared to the expected $0.30 EPS.
• The company declared a dividend of $0.21 per share, representing a dividend yield of 363.0%, with a payout ratio of 24.59%.

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 2,616 put options on the company. Thisisanincreaseof1,353% compared to the average daily volume of 180 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of NOV from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on NOV from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of NOV from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Susquehanna set a $17.00 price target on NOV and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $16.69.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NOV

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in NOV in the first quarter worth $36,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of NOV by 382.9% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,201 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 14,432 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in NOV by 172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,320 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,737 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in NOV by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 669,077 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $10,183,000 after purchasing an additional 87,909 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in NOV by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,895 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NOV Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOV remained flat at $11.90 during midday trading on Friday. 2,657,003 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,358,569. The stock has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.32. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $13.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 1.72. NOV has a fifty-two week low of $10.84 and a fifty-two week high of $18.40.

NOV (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. NOV had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NOV will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 363.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. NOV's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.59%.

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.