AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 1,748,816 Shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) by 85.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,784,096 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,748,816 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NOV were worth $55,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in NOV by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 581,446 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $8,489,000 after acquiring an additional 56,665 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its holdings in NOV by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 3,291,042 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $48,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,666 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in NOV by 120.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 473,545 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,561,000 after purchasing an additional 258,392 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in NOV by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,983 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of NOV by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 397,149 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $5,798,000 after buying an additional 20,952 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

NOV Trading Up 2.4 %

NOV opened at $11.89 on Friday. NOV Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.84 and a 12 month high of $21.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.38, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.35. 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 (NYSE:NOV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.06). NOV had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NOV shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NOV from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna decreased their target price on NOV from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of NOV from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of NOV from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of NOV from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NOV presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.00.

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.