Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Has $353,000 Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 63.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,607 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,401 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 205.1% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 139,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,647,000 after purchasing an additional 93,829 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 12,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 2,131.7% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 28,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 27,563 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,182,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,361,000 after purchasing an additional 19,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 69.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 476,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,873,000 after purchasing an additional 194,685 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $1,078,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 18,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,785,406.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 12,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,241,440.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,455 shares of company stock worth $13,628,764 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WFRD. Barclays began coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet raised shares of Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $131.00.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Weatherford International stock opened at $110.93 on Friday. Weatherford International plc has a 52 week low of $55.81 and a 52 week high of $127.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $111.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.73.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its 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 net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 56.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International 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.