Craig Weinstock Sells 70,000 Shares of NOV (NYSE:NOV) Stock

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) VP Craig Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 256,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,146,885.52. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

NOV Stock Up 1.6%

NOV stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,725,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,982,083. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.01 and a beta of 0.93. NOV Inc. has a one year low of $10.84 and a one year high of $20.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $17.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.27.

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

NOV Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of NOV by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,384 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in NOV by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 111,185 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in NOV by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,578 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of NOV by 0.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 116,720 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of NOV by 2.6% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 29,023 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on NOV from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $16.00 target price on shares of NOV in a research report on Monday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of NOV in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.36.

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.