Noble (NYSE:NE) CFO Richard Barker Sells 150,000 Shares of Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) CFO Richard Barker sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total value of $6,994,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 164,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,683,738.03. The trade was a 47.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Noble Price Performance

Noble stock opened at $47.80 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.37. Noble Corporation PLC has a 12 month low of $17.40 and a 12 month high of $48.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a PE ratio of 35.41 and a beta of 1.07.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $764.41 million during the quarter. Noble had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 2.34%. Noble’s revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Noble’s payout ratio is 148.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Noble from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Noble Financial lowered Noble to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Noble from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Noble during the first quarter worth $142,000. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its holdings in Noble by 0.8% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 540,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,435 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Noble by 819.1% in the second 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 last quarter. Hara Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Noble by 4.9% in the second quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 194,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,163,000 after buying an additional 9,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Noble during the 2nd quarter worth $359,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

About Noble

Noble (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling company that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The firm operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units and delivers contract drilling solutions for exploration and production activities. Its core business centers on executing drilling programs for upstream energy companies across a range of water depths and operating environments.

Products and services include the operation and management of offshore drilling rigs — such as drillships, semisubmersibles and jackups — along with associated technical, engineering and project management services.