Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 44,300 Shares of NOV Inc. $NOV

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its holdings in shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) by 18.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 191,810 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 44,300 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.05% of NOV worth $3,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in NOV by 203.9% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 85,897 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 57,634 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of NOV during the 1st quarter worth about $2,331,000. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of NOV by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 430,231 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $6,725,000 after acquiring an additional 51,175 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of NOV by 749.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 360,729 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $6,785,000 after acquiring an additional 318,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of NOV by 176.9% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 445,988 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $8,483,000 after acquiring an additional 284,948 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David D. Harrison sold 9,594 shares of NOV stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.21, for a total transaction of $184,300.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 126,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,435,117.23. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on NOV from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on NOV from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of NOV from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of NOV from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.31.

NOV Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NOV opened at $19.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.48 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.42. NOV Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.77 and a 52 week high of $21.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.49.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.31 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that NOV Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a yield of 170.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is currently 138.46%.

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.