Vest Financial LLC Purchases 32,096 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 57.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 87,683 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,096 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $6,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 712.8% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443,512 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Weatherford International by 1,005.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,056,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,148,000 after buying an additional 960,832 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,542,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 1,084.6% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 686,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,513,000 after buying an additional 628,100 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 196.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 825,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,343,000 after acquiring an additional 547,044 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of WFRD opened at $88.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 0.79. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $36.74 and a twelve month high of $91.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.07 and a 200 day moving average of $68.43.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.28% and a net margin of 8.15%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total value of $164,465.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,739.25. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on WFRD. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $81.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group started coverage on Weatherford International in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Weatherford International in a research note on Friday, October 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.22.

Weatherford International Company Profile

Weatherford International (NASDAQ: WFRD) is a global oilfield services company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of equipment and technologies for oil and natural gas drilling, evaluation, completion and production. The company’s core offerings include well construction services such as directional drilling and wellbore positioning, well completion solutions that encompass sand control and zonal isolation technologies, and production enhancement services involving artificial lift systems and well intervention tools.

In addition to its comprehensive service lines, Weatherford provides a range of drilling optimization and reservoir evaluation products.