Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases New Shares in NOV Inc. $NOV

Key Points

• Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund opened a new position in NOV during the first quarter, buying 80,030 shares worth about $1.5 million.
• Institutional ownership in NOV remains very high, with 93.27% of the stock held by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Several other firms also recently increased or initiated positions in the company.
• NOV shares were up 3.1% to $20.16, but the company recently reported earnings of $0.05 per share, missing estimates, while revenue matched expectations at $2.05 billion. Analysts currently have a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $20.50.

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 80,030 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock, valued at approximately $1,505,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in NOV by 203.9% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 85,897 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,343,000 after buying an additional 57,634 shares during the period. Oldfield Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of NOV by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Oldfield Partners LLP now owns 5,045,332 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $78,859,000 after acquiring an additional 276,961 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of NOV in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,331,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of NOV by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 65,626 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 32,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 51,175 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NOV Trading Up 3.1%

NOV stock opened at $20.16 on Wednesday. NOV Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.77 and a 12 month high of $21.55. The company has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.02 and a beta of 0.91. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $19.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

NOV (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. NOV had a net margin of 1.05% and a return on equity of 3.34%. NOV's revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that NOV Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a yield of 170.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. NOV's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 150.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised NOV from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of NOV from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Capital One Financial raised shares of NOV from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $21.00 price target on shares of NOV in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Evercore raised shares of NOV to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.50.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.