Brokerages Set NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) Price Target at $21.31

Shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.3077.

A number of brokerages have commented on NOV. Citigroup boosted their price objective on NOV from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $21.00 target price on NOV in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research lowered NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th.

NOV Stock Down 1.0%

NOV stock opened at $21.50 on Tuesday. NOV has a 1-year low of $12.28 and a 1-year high of $21.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.69 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.14. NOV had a net margin of 1.10% and a return on equity of 3.44%. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that NOV will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 138.46%.

Insider Transactions at NOV

In other NOV news, Director David Harrison sold 9,594 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.21, for a total value of $184,300.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 126,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,435,117.23. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of NOV by 39.9% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in NOV in the second quarter worth $37,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its stake in NOV by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 2,030 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in NOV in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of NOV by 659.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

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.