Susquehanna Issues Positive Forecast for Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock Price

Noble (NYSE:NE) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Susquehanna from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Susquehanna’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 0.42% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on NE. Barclays lowered shares of Noble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Noble from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Fearnley Fonds downgraded shares of Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Noble has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.25.

Noble Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE NE traded up $0.69 on Tuesday, reaching $50.21. The company had a trading volume of 77,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,085,874. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. Noble has a 1-year low of $17.51 and a 1-year high of $51.61. The company’s fifty day moving average is $44.59 and its 200-day moving average is $35.05.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $764.41 million during the quarter. Noble had a return on equity of 2.34% and a net margin of 6.60%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Noble will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mikkel Ipsen sold 3,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.56, for a total value of $150,412.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,360.24. This trade represents a 22.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $4,662,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,243,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,987,261.36. This trade represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 328,805 shares of company stock worth $15,067,754 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Noble by 156.4% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Noble by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Noble during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Noble by 819.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP lifted its position in Noble by 0.6% during the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,036,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,322,000 after acquiring an additional 5,685 shares during the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.