American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 4,519,957 Shares of NOV Inc. $NOV

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) by 585.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,291,529 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after buying an additional 4,519,957 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.42% of NOV worth $65,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in NOV by 717.3% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 210,144 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,612,000 after purchasing an additional 184,432 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in NOV by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 652,216 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $8,107,000 after buying an additional 11,502 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in NOV during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,661,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in NOV in the 2nd quarter valued at $743,000. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of NOV in the second quarter valued at about $622,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NOV. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on NOV from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of NOV from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on NOV from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of NOV from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.54.

NOV Stock Performance

NYSE NOV opened at $15.07 on Friday. NOV Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.84 and a 52-week high of $16.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.30. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 1.25.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.13). NOV had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 5.89%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. NOV’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. NOV’s payout ratio is 30.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christian S. Kendall purchased 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.46 per share, with a total value of $1,012,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 85,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,242,822.54. This represents a 438.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.08% of the company’s stock.

NOV Company Profile

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.