Insider Selling: Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells $255,948.00 in Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) SVP Jennie Howard sold 6,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $255,948.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 18,162 shares in the company, valued at $762,804. The trade was a 25.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Noble Stock Up 2.5%

NE stock opened at $45.37 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60 and a beta of 1.12. Noble Corporation PLC has a one year low of $17.40 and a one year high of $46.31.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $764.41 million for the quarter. Noble had a return on equity of 2.34% and a net margin of 6.60%.The firm’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Noble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Noble Financial lowered shares of Noble to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Evercore set a $45.00 price objective on Noble in a report on Friday, February 13th. Fearnley Fonds cut Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Noble from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Noble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $41.00 in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Noble presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.63.

More Noble News

Here are the key news stories impacting Noble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Noble disclosed a quarterly dividend of $0.50 (annualized $2.00), a ~4.5% yield with an ex-dividend date of March 4 — a near-term income draw for yield-focused holders. MarketBeat: NE stock page (dividend details)
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks published a momentum-focused piece on NE, which may attract momentum traders but doesn’t contain new company-specific catalysts. Zacks: What Makes NE a Strong Momentum Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several sell?side firms raised price targets recently (JPMorgan, BTIG, Susquehanna), which can be constructive for medium-term valuation. However, these reports largely kept Neutral/Hold stances or set targets near or below recent trade levels, muting immediate bullish impact. Benzinga: analyst notes
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgraded NE from Overweight to Equal Weight while raising its target to $41, signaling a more cautious stance; the $41 target implies downside versus recent prices and likely pressures sentiment. The Fly: Barclays downgrades Noble
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior executives disclosed sizable insider sales this week (e.g., Blake Denton, Joey M. Kawaja, Jennie Howard, Mikkel Ipsen, Caroline Alting). These filings show meaningful reductions in insider holdings and can be interpreted as a negative signal for near-term insider confidence. InsiderTrades: Insider selling summary

Institutional Trading of Noble

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NE. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Noble by 156.4% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Noble in the third quarter worth about $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Noble by 819.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Noble during the 1st quarter valued at about $142,000. 68.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Noble Company Profile

Noble Corp. Plc engages in the provision offshore drilling services for oil and gas industry. It focuses on a balanced fleet of floating and jackup rigs and the deployment of drilling rigs in oil and gas basins around the world. The company was founded by Lloyd Noble and Art Olson in 1921 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.