Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 214,868 Shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV)

Heartland Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,722,786 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 214,868 shares during the period. NOV comprises approximately 1.4% of Heartland Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.44% of NOV worth $25,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of NOV by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC raised its stake in NOV by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 15,050 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in NOV by 222.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of NOV by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,983 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of NOV by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 59,895 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NOV shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of NOV from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of NOV from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and issued a $18.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of NOV in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. ATB Capital reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of NOV in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on NOV from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.60.

NOV Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NOV stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.43. The stock had a trading volume of 821,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,782,643. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.66. NOV Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.78 and a 1 year high of $21.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.38.

NOV (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. NOV had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 7.16%. On average, research analysts expect that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. NOV's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.63%.

About NOV

NOV Inc designs, constructs, manufactures, and sells systems, components, and products for oil and gas drilling and production, and industrial and renewable energy sectors in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Energy Equipment, and Energy Products and Services. The company provides solids control and waste management equipment and services, managed pressure drilling, drilling fluids, premium drillpipe, wired pipe, drilling optimization services, tubular inspection and coating services, instrumentation, downhole tools, and drill bits.