Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells 3,453 Shares

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) SVP Mikkel Ipsen sold 3,453 shares of Noble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.56, for a total value of $150,412.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,854 shares in the company, valued at $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 can be accessed through the SEC website.

Noble Price Performance

NYSE NE traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $44.68. 639,609 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,321,360. The firm has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.12 and a beta of 1.12. Noble Corporation PLC has a 1-year low of $17.40 and a 1-year high of $46.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $764.41 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on NE. Barclays cut Noble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore set a $45.00 price objective on Noble in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Noble presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.63.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Noble by 156.4% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 630 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Noble during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Noble by 819.1% in 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 period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 4,435 shares during the period. 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.