Insider Selling: Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells 2,486 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• SVP Jennie Howard sold 2,486 shares on April 30 at an average price of $51.08 for about $126,985, reducing her holding by 13.69% to 15,676 shares (disclosed in an SEC filing).
• Noble beat Q1 expectations with EPS of $0.26 versus $0.21 est. and revenue of $785.69M (vs. $730.8M est.), although revenue was down 10.1% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 ($2.00 annual, 3.9% yield) with a high payout ratio of 139.86%, while analysts' consensus is a "Reduce" rating with a $44.38 target and the stock trading near $51 (market cap ≈ $8.17B).

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) SVP Jennie Howard sold 2,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total value of $126,984.88. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $800,730.08. The trade was a 13.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Jennie Howard also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 13th, Jennie Howard sold 6,094 shares of Noble stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $255,948.00.

Noble Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE NE traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $51.19. 2,223,660 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,533,731. Noble Corporation PLC has a one year low of $21.75 and a one year high of $54.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.99. The company's 50-day moving average is $47.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.50. The company has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.80 and a beta of 1.00.

Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 7.17%.The firm had revenue of $785.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The business's revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Noble Corporation PLC will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Noble's dividend payout ratio is 139.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Noble from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Noble from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 price objective on Noble in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $44.38.

Institutional Trading of Noble

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Noble by 156.4% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Noble during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Noble by 77.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Noble by 819.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Noble during the 1st quarter worth about $218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.14% 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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