26,362 Shares of Noble Corporation PLC $NE Bought by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 26,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,099,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NE. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC purchased a new stake in Noble during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,802,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Noble by 101.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,347,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,254,000 after acquiring an additional 679,981 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Noble by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,957,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $520,602,000 after purchasing an additional 395,316 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Noble by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,428,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,483,000 after purchasing an additional 215,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Noble in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,481,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Noble Stock Performance

Shares of NE opened at $42.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Noble Corporation PLC has a 52-week low of $27.67 and a 52-week high of $54.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.08. The company has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 80.07 and a beta of 1.00.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.14). Noble had a return on equity of 1.93% and a net margin of 4.88%. The firm had revenue of $719.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $697.98 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. Noble’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Fearnley Fonds raised Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Noble from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Susquehanna increased their price target on Noble from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Noble currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.29.

Noble Profile

Noble Corporation plc (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling contractor that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The company operates a fleet of offshore drilling units, including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs, which are used to explore for and develop oil and natural gas reserves beneath the seabed.

Noble’s services include contract drilling, well planning, project management and other related support services. Its drilling units are designed to operate in a range of offshore environments, including deepwater and harsh-environment locations.