NOV (NYSE:NOV) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research cut shares of NOV (NYSE:NOV) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

NOV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $19.00 target price on NOV in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on NOV from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $21.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Evercore upgraded shares of NOV to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.31.

NOV Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NOV stock opened at $20.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 80.13 and a beta of 0.92. NOV has a 1 year low of $12.28 and a 1 year high of $21.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.71.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.14. NOV had a net margin of 1.10% and a return on equity of 3.44%. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that NOV will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 138.46%.

Insider Activity at NOV

In related news, Director David D. Harrison sold 9,594 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.21, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of NOV in the second quarter worth $697,976,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in NOV during the second quarter valued at $674,776,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in NOV by 1,725.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,716,652 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $143,144,000 after buying an additional 7,293,818 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of NOV by 1,743.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,059,400 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $79,080,000 after acquiring an additional 4,785,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of NOV during the 2nd quarter valued at about $77,520,000. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.