Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 197,494 Shares of Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) by 29.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 470,107 shares of the company’s stock after selling 197,494 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of Northern Oil and Gas worth $16,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOG. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Northern Oil and Gas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 100.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 338.8% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 874 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 58.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 122.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NOG. Mizuho cut shares of Northern Oil and Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Northern Oil and Gas in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $42.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Northern Oil and Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Oil and Gas news, President Adam A. Dirlam sold 2,508 shares of Northern Oil and Gas stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.50, for a total transaction of $96,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 107,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,153,226. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erik J. Romslo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.26, for a total transaction of $52,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 105,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,727,440.38. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,508 shares of company stock valued at $248,113 over the last three months. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northern Oil and Gas Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NOG opened at $36.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $39.49 and its 200 day moving average is $38.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 1.85. Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.13 and a fifty-two week high of $44.31.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $753.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $540.23 million. Northern Oil and Gas had a net margin of 33.44% and a return on equity of 27.52%. Northern Oil and Gas’s quarterly revenue was up 140.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Oil and Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. Northern Oil and Gas’s payout ratio is 20.17%.

About Northern Oil and Gas

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It primarily holds interests in the Williston Basin, the Appalachian Basin, and the Permian Basin in the United States.