Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV - Free Report) by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 911,410 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 405,612 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of NOV worth $14,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in NOV during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of NOV during the third quarter worth $39,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NOV by 1,590.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,735 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in NOV in the second quarter valued at $78,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in NOV by 67.6% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,443 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NOV Stock Performance

Shares of NOV stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $15.97. The company had a trading volume of 2,727,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,712,668. NOV Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.98 and a 52-week high of $21.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $16.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.52. The stock has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.89, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.66.

NOV Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. NOV's payout ratio is 11.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NOV. Evercore ISI raised NOV to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of NOV from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays cut their price target on NOV from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.64.

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.