JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock

Noble (NYSE:NE) had its target price boosted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $33.00 to $41.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 8.30% from the stock’s current price.

NE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Noble from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Noble Financial cut shares of Noble to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Noble from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 price target on Noble in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds downgraded Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Noble presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.63.

Noble Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Noble stock traded up $0.45 on Tuesday, hitting $44.71. 639,609 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,321,360. Noble has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $46.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.09 and a beta of 1.12.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.06). The firm 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%.The company’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Noble will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennie Howard sold 6,094 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $255,948.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 18,162 shares in the company, valued at $762,804. This trade represents a 25.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 19,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 80,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,484,019.74. This represents a 19.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,722 shares of company stock valued at $2,459,090. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Noble by 424.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,435,000 after acquiring an additional 356,333 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in Noble in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,902,000. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Noble in the third quarter valued at about $3,935,000. Hosking Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Noble by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,203,000 after acquiring an additional 103,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP raised its position in Noble by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 182,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,164,000 after purchasing an additional 52,261 shares during the period. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.