Noble (NYSE:NE) Price Target Raised to $41.00

Noble (NYSE:NE) had its price target upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on NE. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Evercore set a $45.00 target price on Noble in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Fearnley Fonds cut Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 price objective on Noble in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Noble from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.63.

Noble Price Performance

Shares of NE stock opened at $45.37 on Tuesday. Noble has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $46.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.81.

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

Noble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Noble’s payout ratio is 148.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 19,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.51, for a total transaction of $858,234.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 80,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,484,019.74. This trade represents a 19.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jennie Howard sold 6,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $255,948.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 18,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,804. This represents a 25.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 56,722 shares of company stock valued at $2,459,090 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Noble during the 1st quarter valued at about $142,000. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in Noble by 0.8% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 540,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,435 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Noble by 819.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC grew its holdings in Noble by 4.9% in the second quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 194,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,163,000 after purchasing an additional 9,116 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Noble in the second quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Noble

Here are the key news stories impacting Noble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Noble disclosed a quarterly dividend of $0.50 (annualized $2.00), a ~4.5% yield with an ex-dividend date of March 4 — a near-term income draw for yield-focused holders. MarketBeat: NE stock page (dividend details)
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks published a momentum-focused piece on NE, which may attract momentum traders but doesn’t contain new company-specific catalysts. Zacks: What Makes NE a Strong Momentum Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several sell?side firms raised price targets recently (JPMorgan, BTIG, Susquehanna), which can be constructive for medium-term valuation. However, these reports largely kept Neutral/Hold stances or set targets near or below recent trade levels, muting immediate bullish impact. Benzinga: analyst notes
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgraded NE from Overweight to Equal Weight while raising its target to $41, signaling a more cautious stance; the $41 target implies downside versus recent prices and likely pressures sentiment. The Fly: Barclays downgrades Noble
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior executives disclosed sizable insider sales this week (e.g., Blake Denton, Joey M. Kawaja, Jennie Howard, Mikkel Ipsen, Caroline Alting). These filings show meaningful reductions in insider holdings and can be interpreted as a negative signal for near-term insider confidence. InsiderTrades: Insider selling summary

About Noble

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.