Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $246.16 Million Position in NOV Inc. $NOV

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,578,053 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after acquiring an additional 161,414 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.05% of NOV worth $246,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NOV. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of NOV during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of NOV by 114.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,109 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in NOV by 88.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,083 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,385 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in NOV by 33.6% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,595 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in NOV by 25.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,738 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NOV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore set a $19.00 price objective on NOV in a report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of NOV in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NOV presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.57.

NOV Stock Down 2.0%

NOV opened at $18.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.90 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.73. NOV Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.84 and a twelve month high of $20.85.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.23). NOV had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 3.57%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

NOV Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NOV

In related news, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of NOV stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.17, for a total value of $3,047,404.62. Following the transaction, the insider owned 269,694 shares in the company, valued at $5,439,727.98. This trade represents a 35.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.08, for a total transaction of $1,405,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 256,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,146,885.52. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 2.08% 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.