NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) Shares Acquired by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,478,408 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in NOV were worth $50,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOV. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NOV during the fourth quarter worth approximately $427,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in NOV in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of NOV by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 59,340 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $866,000 after acquiring an additional 11,364 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of NOV in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,190,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP increased its stake in shares of NOV by 557.1% during the fourth quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 106,202 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,551,000 after acquiring an additional 90,040 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NOV Price Performance

NOV stock opened at $14.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.40. The firm has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.46. NOV Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.78 and a 1 year high of $21.20.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last issued 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, sell-side analysts expect that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued 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 2.01%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of NOV from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on NOV from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on NOV from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $18.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of NOV in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, ATB Capital reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of NOV in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NOV presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.60.

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.