Noble (NYSE:NE) CEO Robert Eifler Sells 50,000 Shares

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) CEO Robert Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total transaction of $2,275,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,193,828 shares in the company, valued at $54,331,112.28. This trade represents a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Noble Trading Down 0.9%

Noble stock opened at $43.11 on Thursday. Noble Corporation PLC has a 12-month low of $25.24 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.00.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $785.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.47 million. Noble had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 7.17%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Noble’s dividend payout ratio is 139.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Noble by 10.0% in 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 during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Noble by 424.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,435,000 after purchasing an additional 356,333 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Noble during the 4th quarter worth about $4,902,000. De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Noble during the 4th quarter worth about $824,000. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP lifted its stake in Noble by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 182,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,164,000 after buying an additional 52,261 shares in the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NE. Zacks Research raised Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Noble from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Noble in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Noble from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Noble from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.38.

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.