Noble (NYSE:NE) Given New $40.00 Price Target at Susquehanna

Noble (NYSE:NE) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Susquehanna from $55.00 to $40.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Susquehanna’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.32% from the stock’s current price.

NE has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays raised Noble from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $50.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Noble from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.25.

Noble Stock Performance

NE stock opened at $38.34 on Wednesday. Noble has a 1-year low of $25.24 and a 1-year high of $54.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.80. The company has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 2.32%. The business had revenue of $785.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Noble will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Noble

In other news, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total transaction of $2,275,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,193,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,331,112.28. The trade was a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.85, for a total value of $1,994,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,539.35. This trade represents a 49.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,550 shares of company stock valued at $6,985,436. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Noble

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Noble by 424.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,435,000 after buying an additional 356,333 shares in the last quarter. 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 shares of Noble during the third quarter worth $3,935,000. Hosking Partners LLP increased 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 valued at $32,203,000 after acquiring an additional 103,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP increased its stake 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 last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.