Blake Denton Sells 23,255 Shares of Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) SVP Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares of Noble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $1,011,592.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 79,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,447,853.50. The trade was a 22.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Noble Trading Up 1.0%

NE stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $44.68. 639,609 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,321,360. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.12 and a beta of 1.12. Noble Corporation PLC has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $46.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.06). Noble had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 2.34%. The company had revenue of $764.41 million for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Noble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Noble by 156.4% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Noble in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Noble by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Noble by 819.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Noble in the first quarter worth approximately $142,000. 68.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on NE. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 price target on Noble in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Fearnley Fonds lowered Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Noble from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.63.

Noble Company Profile

Noble Corp. Plc engages in the provision offshore drilling services for oil and gas industry. It focuses on a balanced fleet of floating and jackup rigs and the deployment of drilling rigs in oil and gas basins around the world. The company was founded by Lloyd Noble and Art Olson in 1921 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.