Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 200.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,654 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,166 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Weatherford International worth $6,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,254,000 after acquiring an additional 120,401 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,928,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,351,000 after acquiring an additional 197,337 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,792,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,373,000 after acquiring an additional 111,712 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,646,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,742,000 after acquiring an additional 76,058 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,340,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,097,000 after acquiring an additional 65,935 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WFRD shares. Benchmark upped their target price on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Weatherford International from $138.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. TheStreet upgraded Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.00.

Weatherford International Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of WFRD traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $111.90. The company had a trading volume of 243,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 806,921. The company has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Weatherford International plc has a one year low of $55.81 and a one year high of $127.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $111.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.41.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.48. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 56.68% and a net margin of 8.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Weatherford International plc will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In related news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total transaction of $1,163,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,241,440.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Weatherford International news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $1,078,440.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 18,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,785,406.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total value of $1,163,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,241,440.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,455 shares of company stock valued at $13,628,764 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Company Profile

Weatherford International plc, an energy services company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil, geothermal, and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Drilling and Evaluation; Well Construction and Completions; and Production and Intervention.