Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells $858,234.75 in Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) SVP Joey Kawaja sold 19,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.51, for a total value of $858,234.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 80,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,484,019.74. This represents a 19.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Noble Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:NE traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $44.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 639,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,321,360. The firm has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.12 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. Noble Corporation PLC has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $46.31.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $764.41 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given 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 yield of 4.5%. Noble’s payout ratio is currently 148.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NE. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Noble by 156.4% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Noble by 77.8% in the fourth 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Noble during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted 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 buying an additional 4,435 shares in the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Noble from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Fearnley Fonds cut Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.63.

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.