Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells 30,000 Shares

Key Points

• Insider sale: Noble SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares on May 6 at an average price of $49.31 for $1.48M, cutting his stake by 50.06% to 29,927 shares; he had also sold 23,255 shares in February.
• Recent results and payout: Noble beat Q1 EPS estimates ($0.26 vs. $0.21) with $785.7M in revenue (down 10.1% YoY) and announced a $0.50 quarterly dividend ($2.00 annualized, 4.1% yield) despite a very high payout ratio of 139.86%.
• Market and analyst view: Shares trade around $48.49 (52‑week range $22.37–$54.57) and the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average target of $45.38 (two Buy, eight Hold, one Sell).

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.31, for a total transaction of $1,479,300.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,475,700.37. The trade was a 50.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Blake Denton also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 17th, Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares of Noble stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $1,011,592.50.

Noble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NE traded down $0.59 on Thursday, hitting $48.49. 1,261,189 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,673,143. The company's 50 day moving average price is $48.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. Noble Corporation PLC has a one year low of $22.37 and a one year high of $54.57.

Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $730.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Noble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 139.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NE. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Noble by 156.4% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Noble by 77.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Noble by 819.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Noble by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,693 shares of the company's stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Noble during the 1st quarter worth about $142,000. 68.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Noble from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Noble from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Noble in a research note on Monday, April 27th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.38.

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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