Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Position in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 633,724 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 68,927 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.16% of NOV worth $9,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NOV. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of NOV by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of NOV by 88.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,200 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of NOV by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 15,050 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in NOV by 222.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of NOV by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,983 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NOV Price Performance

Shares of NOV stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $12.26. 672,539 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,546,876. NOV Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.84 and a 12-month high of $21.20. The company has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 7.61, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.35. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $14.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

NOV (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts anticipate that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. NOV's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on NOV shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of NOV from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and set a $18.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of NOV in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of NOV from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on NOV from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of NOV from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.00.

NOV Profile

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.