NOV (NYSE:NOV) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 5,678,731 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 55% from the previous session’s volume of 3,665,723 shares.The stock last traded at $16.24 and had previously closed at $16.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on NOV shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of NOV from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NOV to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of NOV from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of NOV in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.42.

NOV Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 6.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $17.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.61.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. NOV had a net margin of 11.88% and a return on equity of 10.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NOV Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. NOV’s payout ratio is 12.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NOV

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NOV during the fourth quarter worth about $280,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NOV during the fourth quarter worth about $97,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NOV by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 55,424 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,124,000 after buying an additional 18,150 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its holdings in shares of NOV by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 41,819 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $848,000 after buying an additional 15,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delta Asset Management LLC TN grew its holdings in shares of NOV by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 166,381 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,374,000 after buying an additional 1,409 shares in the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.