Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 509,581 Shares of NOV Inc. $NOV

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates reduced its NOV stake by 10.4% in the second quarter, selling 509,581 shares and retaining 4.39 million shares worth approximately $81.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.27% of NOV.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.31; recent targets range from $19 to $26.
• NOV beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.31 in EPS versus the $0.17 consensus and $2.13 billion in revenue. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, equivalent to a 1.7% annualized yield.

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its stake in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,393,205 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 509,581 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 1.23% of NOV worth $81,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in NOV by 39.9% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of NOV in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of NOV by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 2,030 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NOV in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of NOV by 659.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,978 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $19.00 price objective on NOV in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on NOV from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Susquehanna raised their price target on NOV from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on NOV from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $21.00 price objective on NOV in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.31.

NOV Stock Performance

Shares of NOV stock opened at $20.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.73 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.63 and a 200 day moving average of $19.71. NOV Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.28 and a 52 week high of $21.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

NOV (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) 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, 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 business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that NOV Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. NOV's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 138.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NOV news, Director David D. Harrison sold 9,594 shares of NOV stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 126,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,435,117.23. The trade was a 7.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

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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