Zacks Research Downgrades NOV (NYSE:NOV) to Hold

NOV (NYSE:NOV) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

NOV has been the topic of several other reports. Evercore raised shares of NOV to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $21.00 target price on NOV in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of NOV from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen upped their target price on NOV from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of NOV from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.31.

NOV Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NOV opened at $20.83 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.13 and a beta of 0.92. NOV has a 1-year low of $12.28 and a 1-year high of $21.67.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that NOV will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at NOV

In other news, Director David D. Harrison sold 9,594 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 126,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,435,117.23. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NOV

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NOV. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in NOV by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 49,721 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 6,711 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of NOV by 35.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 161,927 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after acquiring an additional 42,462 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of NOV by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,062,292 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $16,168,000 after purchasing an additional 157,385 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of NOV during the 1st quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in NOV during the 2nd quarter valued at about $190,000. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.