7,293 Shares in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD Bought by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 7,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $571,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 83.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 69.8% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Weatherford International during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Weatherford International during the third quarter valued at $52,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $103.64 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $102.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.87. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $42.75 and a twelve month high of $113.15.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 28.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WFRD. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $115.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $111.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.33.

Weatherford International 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.