538,480 Shares in NOV Inc. $NOV Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 538,480 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,989,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of NOV during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,726,000. Ally Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of NOV during the second quarter valued at $464,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in shares of NOV during the 2nd quarter valued at about $317,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NOV in the second quarter worth approximately $372,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of NOV in the 2nd quarter worth $824,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

NOV Stock Performance

NYSE NOV opened at $21.24 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.28 and a twelve month high of $21.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.74. The firm has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.69 and a beta of 0.92.

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

NOV Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at NOV

In other news, Director David D. Harrison sold 9,594 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.21, for a total value of $184,300.74. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

NOV 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.