State Street Corp Purchases 215,799 Shares of Noble Corporation PLC $NE

Key Points

• State Street increased its Noble position by 4.1%, buying 215,799 shares to hold 5.43 million shares worth approximately $202.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 68.14% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with Noble carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $44.71; recent recommendations ranged from “Strong Buy” to “Sell.”
• Noble reported quarterly EPS of $0.01, below the $0.15 consensus estimate, while revenue of $719.7 million exceeded forecasts but fell 15.2% year over year. The company declared a $0.50 quarterly dividend, representing a 4.5% yield.

State Street Corp lifted its position in Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,428,507 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 215,799 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 3.40% of Noble worth $202,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 395,316 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Noble by 101.9% in the second 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 last quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Noble by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 65,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,486 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Noble by 2.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 61,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Noble in the 2nd quarter worth $1,481,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Noble from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research cut Noble from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Noble in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Noble from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Noble from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Noble presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.71.

Noble Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE NE opened at $44.59 on Thursday. Noble Corporation PLC has a 1-year low of $26.69 and a 1-year high of $54.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.07 and a 200-day moving average of $45.73. The firm has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a PE ratio of 47.95 and a beta of 0.92.

Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $719.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $697.98 million. Noble had a return on equity of 1.93% and a net margin of 4.88%.Noble's revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Noble's dividend payout ratio is currently 215.05%.

Noble Profile

Noble Corporation plc NYSE: NE is an offshore drilling contractor that provides services to energy companies involved in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates a fleet of offshore drilling units, including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs, and performs drilling activities in deepwater, harsh-environment and other offshore settings.

Noble's services include contract drilling, rig operations and related offshore support for exploration and production programs.

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