Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells $1,479,300.00 in Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.31, for a total value of $1,479,300.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at $1,475,700.37. The trade was a 50.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Blake Denton also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 17th, Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares of Noble stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $1,011,592.50.

Noble Price Performance

Shares of NE stock opened at $50.35 on Friday. Noble Corporation PLC has a fifty-two week low of $22.37 and a fifty-two week high of $54.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.09.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 7.17%.The business had revenue of $785.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Noble’s payout ratio is presently 139.86%.

More Noble News

Here are the key news stories impacting Noble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Noble Corporation PLC (NE) from “equal weight” to “overweight” and lifted its price target to $56 from $50, signaling increased confidence in the company’s upside potential. Barclays upgrades Noble (NE)
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholders backed Noble’s board and governance framework, which may reduce uncertainty around corporate oversight and support management stability. Noble Corporation Shareholders Back Board, Governance Framework
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also reported that a special shareholder meeting approved an arrangement and reduction of stated capital, alongside agreements with marketing consultants; this is more of a corporate action update than a direct operating driver. Noble Announces Results of the Special Meeting of Shareholders and Agreements with Marketing Consultants
• Neutral Sentiment: Two senior vice presidents sold shares this week, which may weigh on sentiment slightly, but insider sales do not necessarily indicate a change in business fundamentals. Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells $1,479,300.00 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares, and SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 40,000 shares, adding a modest headwind to investor sentiment as the stock trades near its recent highs. Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells $1,479,300.00 in Stock

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NE shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Noble from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded Noble from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Noble by 43.7% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Noble in the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury acquired a new position in Noble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,109,000. Sagefield Capital LP lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 52,261 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Noble by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 911,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,740,000 after acquiring an additional 24,725 shares during the period. 68.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.