Noble Corporation PLC $NE Shares Newly Acquired by Merrion Investment Management Co LLC

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,252,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NE. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Noble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,481,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Noble by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,957,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,602,000 after buying an additional 395,316 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Noble by 4.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,428,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,483,000 after buying an additional 215,799 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC bought a new position in Noble in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,802,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Noble by 101.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,347,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,254,000 after buying an additional 679,981 shares in the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Noble from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.29.

Noble Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:NE traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.06. 1,163,426 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,179,109. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.37 and a beta of 1.00. Noble Corporation PLC has a one year low of $27.12 and a one year high of $54.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.18.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $719.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $697.98 million. Noble had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 1.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.05%.

Noble Profile

Noble Corporation plc (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling contractor that provides drilling services to oil and gas companies worldwide. The company operates a fleet of offshore drilling rigs, including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs, which are used for exploration, development and production activities in offshore oil and gas fields.

Noble’s services include contract drilling, rig operations, well-construction support and related offshore services. Its fleet is designed to work in a range of water depths and operating environments, including deepwater and harsh-environment locations.