Joey Kawaja Sells 19,725 Shares of Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) SVP Joey Kawaja sold 19,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.51, for a total transaction of $858,234.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 80,074 shares in the company, valued at $3,484,019.74. This represents a 19.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Noble Price Performance

Noble stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $44.68. The stock had a trading volume of 639,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,321,360. Noble Corporation PLC has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month high of $46.31. 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 has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.12 and a beta of 1.12.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $764.41 million during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hosking Partners LLP increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Noble by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 911,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,740,000 after buying an additional 24,725 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased 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 buying an additional 4,435 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Noble by 424.2% during the fourth 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. Finally, Hara Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 4.9% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 target price on Noble in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays downgraded shares of Noble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $36.00 to $41.00 in a report on Wednesday. Fearnley Fonds downgraded shares of Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Noble from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Noble from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Noble currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.