Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 43.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,046,520 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 318,254 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.44% of Weatherford International worth $56,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,760,000 after buying an additional 270,775 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 295.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,945,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,894,000 after buying an additional 4,443,823 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,402,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,375,000 after buying an additional 298,811 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,638,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,657,000 after buying an additional 65,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth $104,287,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFRD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $85.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, Director Neal P. Goldman purchased 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $42.04 per share, for a total transaction of $504,480.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 25,311 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,074.44. This represents a 90.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD stock opened at $53.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.96. Weatherford International PLC has a one year low of $36.74 and a one year high of $134.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 35.88%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.