NOV (NYSE:NOV) Given New $22.00 Price Target at Susquehanna

NOV (NYSE:NOV) had its target price raised by Susquehanna from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “positive” rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock. Susquehanna’s price target points to a potential upside of 14.26% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on NOV. Barclays upgraded NOV from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore set a $19.00 target price on NOV in a research report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen downgraded NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $16.00 target price on NOV in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NOV has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.64.

NOV Stock Performance

Shares of NOV stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.25. The stock had a trading volume of 417,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,892,078. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. NOV has a one year low of $10.84 and a one year high of $20.85. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of 50.80 and a beta of 0.94.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.23). NOV had a return on equity of 3.57% and a net margin of 1.66%.The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. NOV’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that NOV will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at NOV

In related news, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.08, for a total transaction of $1,405,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 256,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,146,885.52. This trade represents a 21.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.17, for a total value of $3,047,404.62. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 269,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,439,727.98. This represents a 35.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NOV

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOV. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in NOV by 1,743.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,059,400 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $79,080,000 after purchasing an additional 4,785,015 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in NOV by 401.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,165,518 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $39,347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,534,815 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in NOV by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,596,504 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $100,654,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304,975 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in NOV by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,721,997 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $42,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in NOV during the 3rd quarter valued at $14,114,000. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NOV

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) is a leading provider of equipment and technology to the oil and gas industry. The company designs, manufactures and services an extensive portfolio of products used in drilling, completion and production operations. Its offerings include drilling rigs and related components, wellbore technologies such as tubulars and completion tools, surface equipment including mud pumps and blowout preventers, and aftermarket parts and services that support ongoing field operations.

NOV’s business is organized to serve upstream energy companies around the world.