State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Position in NOV Inc. $NOV

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 140,879 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 30,520 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in NOV were worth $2,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in NOV by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 430,231 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $6,725,000 after acquiring an additional 51,175 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in NOV by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 22,726 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 4,291 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in NOV by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 16,382 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NOV during the 4th quarter worth approximately $184,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of NOV by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 388,461 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $6,076,000 after purchasing an additional 27,033 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NOV Price Performance

NOV stock opened at $19.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.29 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.47. NOV Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.65 and a 1 year high of $20.93.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. NOV had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 1.05%.The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NOV Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a boost from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. NOV’s payout ratio is currently 150.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of NOV from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore raised shares of NOV to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded NOV from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NOV has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.36.

Insider Transactions at NOV

In related news, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of NOV stock in a transaction dated 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.08, 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 approximately $5,146,885.52. This trade represents a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

NOV 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.