Jennie Howard Sells 6,094 Shares of Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) SVP Jennie Howard sold 6,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were 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 represents a 25.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Noble Trading Up 1.1%

Noble stock traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $44.76. 907,942 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,328,056. Noble Corporation PLC has a 1-year low of $17.40 and a 1-year 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13 and a beta of 1.12.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 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 for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut shares of Noble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $41.00 in a report on Wednesday. Evercore set a $45.00 target price on Noble in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Fearnley Fonds downgraded shares of Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Noble currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.63.

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 acquired a new stake in Noble in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,902,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Noble by 424.2% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Noble by 77.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 9,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Noble by 156.4% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Noble News Summary

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)

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.