Trade Alert: President of Energy Equipment Of NOV Joseph Rovig Has Sold Stock

Some NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the President of Energy Equipment, Joseph Rovig, recently sold a substantial US$1.2m worth of stock at a price of US$16.40 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 34% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

View our latest analysis for NOV

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At NOV

In fact, the recent sale by Joseph Rovig was the biggest sale of NOV shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$16.53, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 34% of Joseph Rovig's holding.

In the last year NOV insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Insider Ownership Of NOV

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. NOV insiders own about US$38m worth of shares. That equates to 0.6% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About NOV Insiders?

Insiders sold NOV shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. But it is good to see that NOV is growing earnings. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd practice some caution before buying! So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. At Simply Wall St, we've found that NOV has 3 warning signs (1 is concerning!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.