Insider Selling: Noble (NYSE:NE) CEO Sells 100,000 Shares of Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) CEO Robert Eifler sold 100,000 shares of Noble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total value of $4,662,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,243,828 shares in the company, valued at $57,987,261.36. This trade represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Noble Trading Up 2.5%

NE stock traded up $1.15 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $47.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,354,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,207,713. The stock has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.27.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $764.41 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.15%.

Institutional Trading of Noble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its position in Noble by 10.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Noble by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 911,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,740,000 after acquiring an additional 24,725 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Noble by 0.8% in the 2nd 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 period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Noble by 424.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,435,000 after purchasing an additional 356,333 shares during the period. Finally, Hara Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Noble by 4.9% during 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. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Fearnley Fonds downgraded Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore set a $45.00 price target on Noble in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Noble from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Noble currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.