Joey Kawaja Sells 19,725 Shares of Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) SVP Joey Kawaja sold 19,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.51, for a total value of $858,234.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 80,074 shares in the company, valued at $3,484,019.74. This trade represents a 19.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Noble Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE NE traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $44.76. The company had a trading volume of 907,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,328,056. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 33.13 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.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $764.41 million during the quarter. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Noble Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury purchased a new stake in Noble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,109,000. Sagefield Capital LP grew its position in shares of Noble by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 182,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,164,000 after buying an additional 52,261 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Noble by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 911,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,740,000 after buying an additional 24,725 shares during the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Noble in the fourth quarter valued at $824,000. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP raised its holdings in Noble by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,203,000 after acquiring an additional 103,477 shares in the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Noble

Here are the key news stories impacting Noble this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: The company is mentioned in a MarketBeat roundup about dividend and defensive stocks, but Noble (NE) is not a featured pick in that piece — limited direct impact on NE’s near-term outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays cut Noble from Overweight to Equal Weight while raising its price target to $41 (from $36), signaling a more cautious view despite the higher PT; the $41 PT implies downside versus recent levels and likely weighs on sentiment. Barclays downgrades Noble (The Fly)
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on NE to $41 (from $33) but kept a Neutral rating — the higher PT is constructive on valuation but still implies roughly an 8% downside from recent levels, a mixed-to-negative signal for upside expectations. JPMorgan raises price target (Benzinga)
• Negative Sentiment: Several senior Noble executives disclosed material stock sales this week (Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares at ~$43.50; Joey M. Kawaja sold 19,725 shares at ~$43.51; Jennie Howard, Mikkel Ipsen, Caroline Alting also sold shares). These filings show notable reductions in insider ownership percentages and can be interpreted as a near-term negative signal for investor sentiment. Insider sale filing (SEC – Blake Denton)

Analyst Ratings Changes

NE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Susquehanna increased their price target on Noble from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays cut shares of Noble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Fearnley Fonds downgraded Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore set a $45.00 price target on Noble in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.