Barclays Downgrades Noble (NYSE:NE) to Equal Weight

Noble (NYSE:NE) was downgraded by investment analysts at Barclays from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $41.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $36.00. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 8.30% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on NE. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Noble in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Noble from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Noble currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.63.

Noble Stock Performance

Noble stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.71. The stock had a trading volume of 639,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,321,360. Noble has a one year low of $17.40 and a one year high of $46.31. The stock has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.12 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NE. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in Noble during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,902,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Noble by 424.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,435,000 after purchasing an additional 356,333 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Noble by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 886,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,078,000 after acquiring an additional 9,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Noble by 156.4% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

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.