Nordea Investment Management AB Cuts Stake in NOV Inc. $NOV

Nordea Investment Management AB lessened its stake in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 153,303 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 29,529 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in NOV were worth $2,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 6,711 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in NOV by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 161,927 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,465,000 after purchasing an additional 42,462 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NOV by 17.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in shares of NOV during the first quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of NOV during the second quarter valued at about $190,000. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $16.00 target price on NOV in a research report on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen cut NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on NOV from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.57.

NOV Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE NOV opened at $19.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. NOV Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.84 and a 12-month high of $20.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.24 and a beta of 0.89.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.23). NOV had a return on equity of 3.57% and a net margin of 1.66%.The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NOV Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This is a positive change from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.74%.

Insider Activity at NOV

In related news, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 269,694 shares in the company, valued at $5,439,727.98. This trade represents a 35.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of NOV stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.08% of the company’s stock.

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.