Citigroup Cuts NOV (NYSE:NOV) Price Target to $21.00

NOV (NYSE:NOV) had its price target decreased by Citigroup from $22.00 to $21.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on NOV. Barclays cut their price target on NOV from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $19.00 price objective on NOV in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on NOV from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $21.00 price objective on NOV in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Capital One Financial raised shares of NOV from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NOV presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.23.

NOV Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NOV stock opened at $18.81 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. NOV has a 12 month low of $12.28 and a 12 month high of $21.93. The stock has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.33 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.89.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.14. NOV had a net margin of 1.10% and a return on equity of 3.44%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that NOV will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 138.46%.

Insider Transactions at NOV

In related news, Director David Harrison sold 9,594 shares of NOV stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.21, for a total transaction of $184,300.74. Following the sale, the director owned 126,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,435,117.23. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NOV

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of NOV in the second quarter worth $1,281,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in NOV by 20.4% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 422,834 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,954,000 after acquiring an additional 71,754 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in NOV in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,052,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in NOV in the 2nd quarter valued at $697,976,000. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC purchased a new stake in NOV in the 2nd quarter worth $4,344,000. 93.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NOV Company Profile

NOV Inc is a global provider of equipment, technologies and services used in the oil and gas industry and related energy markets. The company supplies products for drilling, well construction, completion, production and maintenance activities across the energy value chain.

NOV’s offerings include land and offshore drilling rigs, rig equipment, hoisting systems, top drives, mud pumps, drill bits, downhole tools, wellbore technologies, completion equipment and production systems. Its technologies are used by exploration and production companies, drilling contractors and oilfield service providers in onshore and offshore operations.

The company serves customers in major energy-producing regions around the world, including North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.