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

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) CFO Richard Barker sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total transaction of $6,994,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 164,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,683,738.03. This trade represents a 47.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Noble Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NE traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $47.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,354,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,207,713. The company has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.41 and a beta of 1.07. Noble Corporation PLC has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $48.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.30 and a 200 day moving average of $33.27.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.06). Noble had a return on equity of 2.34% and a net margin of 6.60%.The business had revenue of $764.41 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Noble’s payout ratio is currently 148.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Noble during the 1st quarter worth approximately $142,000. 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 purchasing an additional 4,435 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Noble by 819.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 9,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in Noble in the second quarter valued at $359,000. Institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on NE shares. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Noble in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds lowered shares of Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.63.

Noble Company Profile

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.