JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Noble (NYSE:NE) Price Target to $41.00

Noble (NYSE:NE) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 8.17% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on NE. BTIG Research increased their target price on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Noble from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Noble Financial lowered shares of Noble to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore set a $45.00 price target on shares of Noble in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.63.

Noble Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NE traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.65. The company had a trading volume of 819,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,326,951. 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 $7.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.08 and a beta of 1.12. Noble has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month high of $46.31.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $764.41 million for the quarter. Noble had a return on equity of 2.34% and a net margin of 6.60%.The business’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Noble will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Noble

In related news, SVP Mikkel Ipsen sold 3,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.56, for a total value of $150,412.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,360.24. The trade was a 22.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 19,725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.51, for a total transaction of $858,234.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 80,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,484,019.74. This represents a 19.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 56,722 shares of company stock valued at $2,459,090. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Noble by 156.4% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Noble in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 77.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Noble in the 1st quarter worth $142,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

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)

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.