Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock Price Down 4.2% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) traded down 4.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $40.61 and last traded at $40.6260. 375,809 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,821,517 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Noble from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on Noble in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.71.

Noble Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 43.54 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 1.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.39.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.14). Noble had a return on equity of 1.93% and a net margin of 4.88%.The company had revenue of $719.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $697.98 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. Noble’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Noble’s payout ratio is currently 215.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Noble news, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.85, for a total transaction of $1,994,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,539.35. This represents a 49.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $54,331,112.28. The trade was a 4.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 125,724 shares of company stock worth $6,049,266. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Noble by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC bought a new stake in Noble in the 1st quarter worth approximately $308,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Noble by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Noble during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $218,000. 68.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.