Noble Corporation PLC $NE Shares Acquired by First Eagle Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• First Eagle Investment Management increased its Noble stake by 2.9% in the second quarter, adding 395,316 shares to own 13.96 million shares, or approximately 8.74% of the company. Institutional investors collectively hold 68.14% of Noble.
• Noble reported quarterly EPS of $0.01, missing the $0.15 analyst consensus, while revenue of $719.69 million exceeded expectations but declined 15.2% year over year. Analysts’ average rating is “Hold,” with an average price target of $44.71.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, equivalent to an annualized $2.00 payout and a 4.4% yield. However, Noble’s payout ratio stands at a high 215.05%.

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,957,162 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 395,316 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 8.74% of Noble worth $520,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Noble by 3,596.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,503,205 shares of the company's stock worth $205,270,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,310 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Noble by 101.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,347,291 shares of the company's stock worth $50,254,000 after purchasing an additional 679,981 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Noble by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC acquired a new position in shares of Noble in the 1st quarter valued at about $308,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Noble by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the company's stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.14% of the company's stock.

Noble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NE opened at $45.60 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.03 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 1.91. Noble Corporation PLC has a one year low of $26.69 and a one year high of $54.98. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $42.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.75.

Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.14). Noble had a return on equity of 1.93% and a net margin of 4.88%.The company had revenue of $719.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $697.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. Noble's payout ratio is presently 215.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Noble from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Noble from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Noble from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Noble from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $44.71.

Insider Activity at Noble

In other news, CEO Robert Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total value of $2,275,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,193,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,331,112.28. This represents a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.

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