NOV (NYSE:NOV) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by TD Cowen

TD Cowen downgraded shares of NOV (NYSE:NOV) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NOV. Barclays raised shares of NOV from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NOV from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on NOV from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NOV currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.57.

NOV Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NOV opened at $18.82 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.84. The stock has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 49.52 and a beta of 0.89. NOV has a 12 month low of $10.84 and a 12 month high of $20.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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

NOV Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is 78.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of NOV stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 256,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,146,885.52. This trade represents a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NOV

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NOV during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of NOV in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew 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 buying an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in NOV by 50.1% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

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.