Analysts Set NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) Target Price at $15.83

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.8333.

Several equities research analysts have commented on NOV shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on NOV from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NOV from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of NOV in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of NOV from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th.

Insider Activity

In other NOV news, Director Christian S. Kendall purchased 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.46 per share, with a total value of $1,012,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 85,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,242,822.54. This trade represents a 438.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NOV. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in NOV during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of NOV by 114.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,109 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in NOV by 395.3% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,660 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in NOV by 33.2% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of NOV by 119.7% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,407 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,856 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

NOV Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOV opened at $15.63 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.80. NOV has a fifty-two week low of $10.84 and a fifty-two week high of $16.96. The company has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.55.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.13). NOV had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 4.36%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that NOV will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. NOV’s payout ratio is currently 30.00%.

NOV Company Profile

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.