Calamos Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Calamos Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 58.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,676 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,366 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the third quarter worth about $114,430,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 317.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,571,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,930 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 465.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,143,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,232,000 after buying an additional 941,426 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,991,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 274.7% in the second quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 641,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,570,000 after buying an additional 469,941 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WFRD. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Weatherford International from $138.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James upped their price objective on Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.00.

Weatherford International Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of WFRD opened at $112.79 on Monday. Weatherford International plc has a twelve month low of $55.81 and a twelve month high of $127.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.73. The company has a market cap of $8.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.57, for a total transaction of $6,214,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 146,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,213,915.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 18,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,785,406.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Girish Saligram sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.57, for a total transaction of $6,214,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 146,895 shares in the company, valued at $15,213,915.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,455 shares of company stock valued at $13,628,764. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.