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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on NOV. TD Cowen lowered NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on NOV from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a report on Monday, December 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.08, for a total value of $1,405,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 256,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,146,885.52. The trade was a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.17, for a total value of $3,047,404.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 269,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,439,727.98. The trade was a 35.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NOV

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in NOV by 1,845.9% in the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 235,081 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,115,000 after purchasing an additional 223,000 shares during the period. Tejara Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of NOV by 33.1% during the third quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 670,199 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $8,880,000 after purchasing an additional 166,692 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NOV by 239.0% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 141,506 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 99,765 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH acquired a new stake in shares of NOV in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,978,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of NOV by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,596,504 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $100,654,000 after buying an additional 2,304,975 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

NOV Stock Performance

NOV stock opened at $18.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a PE ratio of 48.04 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.05. NOV has a 1-year low of $10.84 and a 1-year high of $20.85.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.23). NOV had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 3.57%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NOV will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.74%.

About NOV

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) is a leading provider of equipment and technology to the oil and gas industry. The company designs, manufactures and services an extensive portfolio of products used in drilling, completion and production operations. Its offerings include drilling rigs and related components, wellbore technologies such as tubulars and completion tools, surface equipment including mud pumps and blowout preventers, and aftermarket parts and services that support ongoing field operations.

NOV’s business is organized to serve upstream energy companies around the world.