Swiss National Bank Buys 348,300 Shares of Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NBL)

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NBL) by 23.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,856,312 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock after acquiring an additional 348,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Noble Energy were worth $11,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lionsbridge Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Noble Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sofos Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Noble Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Noble Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. HM Payson & Co. raised its holdings in Noble Energy by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,400 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Noble Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NBL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Tudor Pickering cut shares of Noble Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Noble Energy from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Susquehanna Bancshares cut shares of Noble Energy from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $8.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 16th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on shares of Noble Energy from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, US Capital Advisors reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Noble Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.34.

Shares of NYSE:NBL opened at $10.22 on Wednesday. Noble Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2.73 and a 52-week high of $27.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.37 and a 200 day moving average of $15.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The oil and gas development company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.15. Noble Energy had a negative net margin of 25.33% and a negative return on equity of 0.82%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Noble Energy, Inc. will post -0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Noble Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.89%.

In other Noble Energy news, COO Brent J. Smolik purchased 9,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.19 per share, for a total transaction of $149,621.50. Also, SVP Rachel G. Clingman purchased 17,793 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.02 per share, with a total value of $53,734.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 85,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,080.14. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 107,143 shares of company stock valued at $543,966. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

About Noble Energy

Noble Energy, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids worldwide. The company owns, operates, develops, and acquires domestic midstream infrastructure assets in the DJ and Delaware Basins.

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