Insider Selling: Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells $1,011,592.50 in Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) SVP Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $1,011,592.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 79,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,447,853.50. The trade was a 22.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Noble Trading Up 2.5%

Noble stock opened at $45.37 on Friday. 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 cap of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.81. 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 company had revenue of $764.41 million for the quarter. Noble had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 2.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given 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 yield of 4.4%. Noble’s payout ratio is currently 148.15%.

Noble News Summary

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 Investors Weigh In On Noble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Noble by 156.4% during 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. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Noble by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Noble during the third quarter valued at $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Noble by 0.8% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 540,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,351,000 after acquiring an additional 4,435 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on NE. Barclays downgraded Noble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $41.00 in a report on Wednesday. Noble Financial lowered shares of Noble to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Fearnley Fonds cut shares of Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Noble from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.63.

About Noble

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.