Investors Purchase High Volume of NOV Put Options (NYSE:NOV)

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

NOV News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting NOV this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Several headlines in the feed concern Novagold (unrelated company) — a $200M bought deal financing and a prior $1B transaction to increase ownership in Donlin Gold. These items are unlikely to directly affect NOV Inc. but may appear in aggregated news feeds. NOVAGOLD Launches US$200 Million Bought Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional Novagold corporate filings and the 2025 year‑end report (detailing the Donlin Gold ownership change) were also published; again, these are for Novagold investors and not material to NOV Inc. NOVAGOLD Files 2025 Year-End Report
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put option activity on NOV: traders bought ~2,616 put contracts — roughly a 1,353% increase vs. a typical daily put volume (~180). Large put buying can reflect bearish expectations or hedging by large holders; it often raises implied volatility and can pressure the shares if market‑makers hedge by shorting stock. Monitor options open interest, implied vol, and whether the activity is concentrated at a particular strike/expiration. Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on NOV (NYSE:NOV)

NOV Price Performance

NOV stock opened at $18.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.55. NOV has a 52 week low of $10.84 and a 52 week high of $18.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $16.22 and a 200-day moving average of $14.31.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.13). NOV had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 5.89%. NOV’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NOV will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on NOV from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on NOV from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on NOV from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of NOV in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NOV news, Director Christian S. Kendall acquired 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.46 per share, for a total transaction of $1,012,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 85,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,242,822.54. This represents a 438.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NOV. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in NOV by 585.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,291,529 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $65,774,000 after purchasing an additional 4,519,957 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of NOV by 101.0% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 7,018,950 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $87,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,526,754 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NOV by 401.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,165,518 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $39,347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,534,815 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of NOV by 27.2% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,091,095 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $75,712,000 after buying an additional 1,302,214 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in NOV by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 42,708,890 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $530,872,000 after buying an additional 1,144,486 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NOV Company Profile

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.