NOV (NYSE:NOV) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of NOV (NYSE:NOV) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $20.00 target price on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $15.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of NOV in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $16.00 price target on NOV in a research note on Monday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of NOV in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of NOV from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NOV presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.00.

NOV Price Performance

NOV stock opened at $18.95 on Wednesday. NOV has a 52-week low of $10.84 and a 52-week high of $19.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.73. The stock has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. NOV had a return on equity of 3.57% and a net margin of 1.66%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NOV will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.95%.

Insider Transactions at NOV

In other news, Director Christian S. Kendall purchased 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.46 per share, for a total transaction of $1,012,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 85,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,242,822.54. The trade was a 438.90% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NOV. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in NOV in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of NOV by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,578 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of NOV during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in NOV by 114.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,109 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in NOV by 395.3% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,660 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about NOV

Here are the key news stories impacting NOV this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 revenue beat and strong cash generation — NOV reported Q4 revenue of ~$2.28B (above consensus) and generated $573M of operating cash in the quarter with $472M of free cash flow; full?year free cash flow was $876M and the company returned $505M to shareholders in 2025. These cash metrics support buyback/dividend strength and likely underlie bullish investor reaction. GlobeNewswire: Q4 & Full-Year Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management cost program and $100M target — NOV outlined an accelerated 2026 cost?out plan targeting $100M of annualized savings, which can boost margins if realized and is being viewed favorably by investors. Seeking Alpha: Cost-Out Plan
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade / renewed optimism — NOV received an analyst upgrade that helped push the stock toward a 12?month high, amplifying buying interest alongside the earnings/cost?save story. AmericanBankingNews: Analyst Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed segment performance — Energy Equipment showed revenue growth and backlog strength, offset by a decline in Energy Products & Services. The company notes near?term customer caution and expects markets to rebalance in H2 2026. This supports a view of cyclically improving demand but with short?term variability. GlobeNewswire: Segment Details
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance cautious but not dire — Q1 2026 outlook calls for year?over?year revenue down 1–3% and Adjusted EBITDA of $200–$225M (management expects improvement later in 2026). Investors are weighing near?term softness vs. the company’s multi?year recovery thesis. NOV Q4 Presentation (slides)
• Negative Sentiment: EPS miss and Q4 net loss — NOV reported GAAP EPS of $0.02 (miss vs. ~$0.25 consensus) and a Q4 net loss driven by tax items and impairments (GAAP net loss ~$0.21/sh). Profitability metrics (adjusted EBITDA down y/y) temper the upbeat cash story. Zacks: Q4 Earnings Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual put-option activity — High volume of put purchases was reported ahead of/after earnings, indicating some traders are positioning for downside or hedging; this creates potential volatility. AmericanBankingNews: Traders Buy NOV Put Options

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.