Insider Selling: Noble (NYSE:NE) CFO Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) CFO Richard Barker sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.96, for a total transaction of $859,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 314,781 shares in the company, valued at $13,522,991.76. This represents a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Noble Price Performance

NYSE:NE traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.50. 2,461,294 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,376,150. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $34.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.94. Noble Corporation PLC has a 52-week low of $17.40 and a 52-week high of $46.31. The company has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.70 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Noble’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $12,435,000 after acquiring an additional 356,333 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Noble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,902,000. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Noble during the third quarter worth $3,935,000. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Noble by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,203,000 after buying an additional 103,477 shares during the period. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 52,261 shares in the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Noble

Here are the key news stories impacting Noble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raising earnings estimates — Zacks notes solid upward revisions to Noble’s earnings estimates, which supports a better near‑term EPS outlook and underpins the stock’s momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target upgrades — Several firms have lifted price targets (Susquehanna to $45, BTIG to $42) and JPMorgan raised its PT to $41, signaling improved valuation expectations from some sell‑side shops and providing technical support for the stock. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend yield draws yield‑seeking buyers but raises sustainability questions — Noble declared a $0.50 quarterly dividend (annualized $2.00, ~4.5% yield) with an ex‑dividend date in early March; however the payout ratio is very high (~148%), so income appeal is tempered by concerns about long‑term sustainability. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgraded the stock to “Equal Weight” — Barclays cut NE from Overweight to Equal Weight (even while raising its PT), a vote of caution that can reduce buy‑side conviction and weigh on sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by senior executives — Multiple execs (including an SVP sale of 3,453 shares) disclosed material sales this week; concentrated insider reductions often spook investors and act as a near‑term headwind. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed analyst stance keeps upside limited — Several shops have raised targets but many maintain Neutral/Hold ratings (consensus is “Hold”), leaving implied upside modest vs. current levels and keeping the stock tethered to fundamentals and guidance. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NE. Barclays downgraded shares of Noble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $41.00 in a report on Wednesday. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 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 report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds cut shares of Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Noble presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.63.

Noble Company Profile

Noble Corp. Plc engages in the provision offshore drilling services for oil and gas industry. It focuses on a balanced fleet of floating and jackup rigs and the deployment of drilling rigs in oil and gas basins around the world. The company was founded by Lloyd Noble and Art Olson in 1921 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.