NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 633,724 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 68,927 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.16% of NOV worth $9,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOV. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of NOV by 88.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,200 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of NOV by 222.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in NOV by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of NOV during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in shares of NOV in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 93.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded NOV from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on NOV from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on NOV from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of NOV from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of NOV from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

NOV Trading Up 3.9 %

NYSE:NOV opened at $12.52 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.01. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.35. NOV Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.84 and a 1 year high of $21.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.46.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. NOV had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 9.88%. As a group, analysts anticipate that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.63%.

NOV Company Profile

NOV Inc designs, constructs, manufactures, and sells systems, components, and products for oil and gas drilling and production, and industrial and renewable energy sectors in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Energy Equipment, and Energy Products and Services. The company provides solids control and waste management equipment and services, managed pressure drilling, drilling fluids, premium drillpipe, wired pipe, drilling optimization services, tubular inspection and coating services, instrumentation, downhole tools, and drill bits.