Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in NOV Inc. $NOV

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc acquired 538,480 shares of NOV in the second quarter, worth approximately $9.99 million and representing about 0.15% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 93.27% of NOV.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.31. Recent upgrades included TD Cowen’s “Buy” rating and Capital One’s “Overweight” rating, both with $26 targets.
• NOV exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.31 in adjusted EPS versus the $0.17 consensus and revenue of $2.13 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, although its annualized payout ratio remains high at 138.46%.

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 538,480 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock, valued at approximately $9,989,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.15% of NOV as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of NOV by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 422,834 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $7,954,000 after purchasing an additional 71,754 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in NOV during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,281,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of NOV by 203.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 57,634 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of NOV in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,344,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of NOV during the 1st quarter valued at $2,331,000. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on NOV shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of NOV in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of NOV from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Capital One Financial upgraded shares of NOV from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $19.00 target price on shares of NOV in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $21.00 price target on NOV in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at NOV

In other news, Director David D. Harrison sold 9,594 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.21, for a total value of $184,300.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 126,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,435,117.23. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

NOV Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE NOV opened at $21.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.74. NOV Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.28 and a 12 month high of $21.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 81.69 and a beta of 0.92.

NOV (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that NOV Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. NOV's payout ratio is presently 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.

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