Systematic Financial Management LP Has $24.12 Million Position in Noble Corporation PLC $NE

Systematic Financial Management LP cut its stake in shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE - Free Report) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 491,609 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,144 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP owned about 0.31% of Noble worth $24,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,203,000 after purchasing an additional 103,477 shares in the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new position in Noble in the fourth quarter worth about $824,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Noble in the fourth quarter worth about $4,902,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Noble by 424.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company's stock worth $12,435,000 after buying an additional 356,333 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Noble in the first quarter worth about $218,000. 68.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Noble

In other news, Director Al J. Hirshberg sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.62, for a total value of $263,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 27,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,462,993.86. This represents a 15.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,193,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,331,112.28. The trade was a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 143,550 shares of company stock worth $6,985,436 over the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore set a $59.00 target price on Noble in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Noble from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on Noble from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Noble from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $43.12.

Noble Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:NE opened at $43.21 on Friday. Noble Corporation PLC has a one year low of $25.24 and a one year high of $54.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $44.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22 and a beta of 0.92.

Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 2.32%. The business had revenue of $785.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. Noble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 139.86%.

Noble Company Profile

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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