Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Blake Denton Sells 30,000 Shares

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.31, for a total value of $1,479,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 29,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,475,700.37. The trade was a 50.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Blake Denton also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 17th, Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares of Noble stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $1,011,592.50.

Noble Price Performance

Shares of NE opened at $48.49 on Friday. Noble Corporation PLC has a 12-month low of $22.37 and a 12-month high of $54.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91 and a beta of 0.94.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.47 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors 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 yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 139.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NE shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Noble from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Noble from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 price target on shares of Noble in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Noble in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Noble from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Noble by 424.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,435,000 after buying an additional 356,333 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Noble in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,902,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Noble by 819.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,318 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Noble by 43.7% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Noble in the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Institutional investors 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.