Blake Denton Sells 23,255 Shares of Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) SVP Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $1,011,592.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 79,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,447,853.50. This represents a 22.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Noble Price Performance

Shares of NE stock traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $44.76. The company had a trading volume of 907,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,328,056. Noble Corporation PLC has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month 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 cap of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13 and a beta of 1.12.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.06). Noble had a return on equity of 2.34% and a net margin of 6.60%.The business had revenue of $764.41 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Noble’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Fearnley Fonds lowered shares of Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore set a $45.00 target price on Noble in a report on Friday, February 13th. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 target price on Noble in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Noble has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.63.

Noble News Summary

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)

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Noble during the first quarter worth approximately $142,000. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,435 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Noble by 819.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC raised its position in Noble by 4.9% in the second quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 194,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,163,000 after acquiring an additional 9,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Noble in the second quarter valued at about $359,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

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.