NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) Short Interest Down 14.6% in March

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 21,190,000 shares, a decrease of 14.6% from the March 15th total of 24,800,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in NOV by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 24,201 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of NOV by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in NOV by 88.7% in 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 last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in NOV by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,204 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in NOV by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 7,317 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NOV Stock Up 2.5 %

NOV stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $12.32. 1,995,137 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,883,767. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.35. NOV has a 52-week low of $10.84 and a 52-week high of $21.20. The business's 50-day moving average price is $13.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.90.

NOV (NYSE:NOV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. NOV's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NOV shares. Seaport Res Ptn cut NOV from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on NOV from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Susquehanna cut their target price on NOV from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on NOV from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NOV has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.00.

NOV Company 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.