Noble Corporation PLC $NE Shares Newly Acquired by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 17,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Noble in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,481,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Noble by 2.9% in 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 in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of Noble during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,099,000. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Noble during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,252,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Noble by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,428,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,483,000 after buying an additional 215,799 shares during the period. 68.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Noble from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Noble Financial initiated coverage on Noble in a report on Thursday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Noble from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.57.

Noble Stock Down 6.6%

Shares of Noble stock opened at $41.05 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $44.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Noble Corporation PLC has a 1-year low of $27.67 and a 1-year high of $54.98.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The company reported ($0.57) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $728.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.82 million. Noble had a net margin of 1.79% and a negative return on equity of 0.76%. The business’s revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.13) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 25th. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 606.06%.

About Noble

Noble Corporation plc (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling contractor that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The company operates a fleet of offshore drilling units, including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs, which are used to explore for and develop oil and natural gas reserves beneath the seabed.

Noble’s services include contract drilling, well planning, project management and other related support services. Its drilling units are designed to operate in a range of offshore environments, including deepwater and harsh-environment locations.