NOV (NYSE:NOV) Price Target Raised to $23.00

NOV (NYSE:NOV) had its price objective increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of NOV from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Argus upgraded shares of NOV to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Evercore set a $19.00 price target on shares of NOV in a research report on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.07.

NOV Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE NOV opened at $19.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.42. NOV has a 52-week low of $11.44 and a 52-week high of $20.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.10. The stock has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.03 and a beta of 0.94.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NOV will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

NOV Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NOV

In related 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 transaction of $1,405,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 256,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,146,885.52. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.17, for a total transaction of $3,047,404.62. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 269,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,439,727.98. This represents a 35.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in NOV during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of NOV by 659.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in shares of NOV by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of NOV by 114.1% in 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 buying an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.