Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 33,139 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in NOV during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of NOV by 222.3% during 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 increased its stake in shares of NOV by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in NOV in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in NOV during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NOV from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised NOV from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Atb Cap Markets downgraded NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on NOV from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.60.

NOV Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOV opened at $15.47 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. NOV Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.78 and a 52 week high of $21.20.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. NOV had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 7.16%. Analysts anticipate that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.63%.

About NOV

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.