NOV Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NOV)

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 2,616 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,353% compared to the typical daily volume of 180 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of NOV during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of NOV during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NOV by 1,590.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,735 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in NOV in the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of NOV in the 2nd quarter worth $78,000. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of NOV in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of NOV from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI raised NOV to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on NOV from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of NOV from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.64.

NOV Price Performance

NOV stock remained flat at $16.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 208,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,705,699. NOV has a 12 month low of $14.98 and a 12 month high of $21.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 5.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.55.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.07%.

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.