Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Cuts Stake in NOV Inc. $NOV

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its stake in shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) by 40.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 636,223 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 424,474 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.17% of NOV worth $9,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in NOV by 0.6% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 111,185 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of NOV by 0.6% in the 3rd 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 period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of NOV by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 29,023 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in NOV by 7.6% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 11,759 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in NOV by 8.2% during the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 11,282 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

NOV Stock Performance

NOV stock opened at $19.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. NOV Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.84 and a 1-year high of $20.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a PE ratio of 52.24 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.35.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.23). NOV had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 3.57%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. NOV’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.08, for a total value of $1,405,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 256,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,146,885.52. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.17, for a total transaction of $3,047,404.62. Following the sale, the insider owned 269,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,439,727.98. This trade represents a 35.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $16.00 target price on NOV in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on NOV from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Evercore set a $19.00 price objective on NOV in a report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen cut NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.57.

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.