Robert Eifler Sells 50,000 Shares of Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) CEO Robert Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total value of $2,275,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,193,828 shares in the company, valued at $54,331,112.28. This trade represents a 4.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Noble Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:NE traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,334,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,804,136. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99. Noble Corporation PLC has a twelve month low of $25.24 and a twelve month high of $54.98. The stock has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15 and a beta of 0.89.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 7.17%.The firm had revenue of $785.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.47 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 139.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Noble from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Noble from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Zacks Research raised Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on Noble in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NE. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Noble by 77.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Noble by 43.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Noble during the first quarter worth about $142,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Noble during the first quarter worth about $218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Noble Company Profile

Noble (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling company that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The firm operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units and delivers contract drilling solutions for exploration and production activities. Its core business centers on executing drilling programs for upstream energy companies across a range of water depths and operating environments.

Products and services include the operation and management of offshore drilling rigs — such as drillships, semisubmersibles and jackups — along with associated technical, engineering and project management services.