Richard Barker Sells 20,000 Shares of Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) CFO Richard Barker sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.96, for a total transaction of $859,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 314,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,522,991.76. The trade was a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Noble Stock Performance

Noble stock opened at $45.50 on Friday. Noble Corporation PLC has a 1-year low of $17.40 and a 1-year high of $46.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a PE ratio of 33.70 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.97.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.06). The firm 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%. Noble’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

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

Trending Headlines about Noble

Here are the key news stories impacting Noble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raising earnings estimates — Zacks notes solid upward revisions to Noble’s earnings estimates, which supports a better near‑term EPS outlook and underpins the stock’s momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target upgrades — Several firms have lifted price targets (Susquehanna to $45, BTIG to $42) and JPMorgan raised its PT to $41, signaling improved valuation expectations from some sell‑side shops and providing technical support for the stock. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend yield draws yield‑seeking buyers but raises sustainability questions — Noble declared a $0.50 quarterly dividend (annualized $2.00, ~4.5% yield) with an ex‑dividend date in early March; however the payout ratio is very high (~148%), so income appeal is tempered by concerns about long‑term sustainability. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgraded the stock to “Equal Weight” — Barclays cut NE from Overweight to Equal Weight (even while raising its PT), a vote of caution that can reduce buy‑side conviction and weigh on sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by senior executives — Multiple execs (including an SVP sale of 3,453 shares) disclosed material sales this week; concentrated insider reductions often spook investors and act as a near‑term headwind. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed analyst stance keeps upside limited — Several shops have raised targets but many maintain Neutral/Hold ratings (consensus is “Hold”), leaving implied upside modest vs. current levels and keeping the stock tethered to fundamentals and guidance. Read More.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NE. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Noble in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Noble in the first quarter worth $142,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on NE shares. Evercore set a $45.00 target price on shares of Noble in a research report on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Fearnley Fonds downgraded Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.63.

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.