Jefferies Group reissued their buy rating on shares of Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NBL) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, ARN reports.

Shares of Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) traded up 4.52% during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $32.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,390,775 shares. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $30.85 and its 200-day moving average is $33.73. The company’s market capitalization is $13.60 billion. Noble Energy has a one year low of $23.77 and a one year high of $53.68.

Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The oil and gas development company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. The business earned $801 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.20 million. Noble Energy’s revenue was down 36.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Noble Energy will post $0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 8th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 4th.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Noble Energy from $37.00 to $31.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Credit Suisse reduced their target price on Noble Energy from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Noble Energy from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday. Nomura upgraded Noble Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 21st. Finally, KLR Group dropped their price target on Noble Energy from $60.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $43.33.

In other Noble Energy news, Director Thomas J. Edelman sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.84, for a total value of $529,760.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,829,819 shares in the company, valued at $107,080,350.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael W. Putnam sold 5,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $223,981.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,618 shares in the company, valued at $809,161.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NBL. Capital Impact Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Noble Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,353,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas raised its position in shares of Noble Energy by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas now owns 346,900 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $11,177,000 after buying an additional 24,100 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Noble Energy by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors now owns 99,928 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $3,291,000 after buying an additional 19,800 shares during the last quarter. Janus Capital Management raised its position in shares of Noble Energy by 226.5% in the third quarter. Janus Capital Management now owns 59,918 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after buying an additional 41,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, British Columbia Investment Management Corp raised its position in shares of Noble Energy by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. British Columbia Investment Management Corp now owns 200,831 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $6,613,000 after buying an additional 31,015 shares during the last quarter.

Noble Energy, Inc. is an independent energy company engaged in crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids exploration and production. Its operations are grouped into four components: the United States; West Africa (NYSE:NBL), and Other International and Corporate. Its assets in the United States include DJ Basin, Marcellus Shale, Deepwater Gulf of Mexico and Other Onshore US. The onshore West Africa includes the Alba field, Block O and Block I offshore Equatorial Guinea, the YoYo mining concession and Tilapia PSC, offshore Cameroon, two blocks offshore Sierra Leone, and one block offshore Gabon. In the Eastern Mediterranean, it has six leases and five licenses operated offshore Israel and one license operated offshore Cyprus. Other International includes various international new ventures, such as offshore Nicaragua and offshore Falkland Islands.

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