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

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

Insider Activity at NOV

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NOV in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in NOV during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in NOV by 659.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,978 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in NOV by 50.1% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in NOV by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,578 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on NOV from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on NOV from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $16.00 price target on shares of NOV in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Barclays raised shares of NOV from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NOV from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NOV presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.57.

NOV Trading Up 0.5%

NOV stock opened at $18.76 on Friday. NOV has a 52 week low of $10.84 and a 52 week high of $20.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.36 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.48.

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

NOV Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase 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.