Swiss National Bank Reduces Stake in Precision Drilling Co. (NYSE:PDS)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in shares of Precision Drilling Co. (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,900 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of Precision Drilling worth $1,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Precision Drilling by 6.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,867 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Mountain Lake Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Precision Drilling by 107.9% in the 4th quarter. Mountain Lake Investment Management LLC now owns 51,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,174,000 after purchasing an additional 26,981 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Precision Drilling by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 63,114 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,961,000 after purchasing an additional 11,331 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Precision Drilling by 1.4% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 726,284 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $44,740,000 after purchasing an additional 10,318 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Precision Drilling by 111.1% in the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 68,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,226,000 after buying an additional 36,100 shares in the last quarter. 48.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PDS. TD Securities lowered Precision Drilling from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Precision Drilling from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th.

Precision Drilling Stock Down 3.0 %

PDS opened at $45.29 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.78. Precision Drilling Co. has a 52 week low of $43.00 and a 52 week high of $79.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $613.62 million, a PE ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 2.05.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by ($0.64). Precision Drilling had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 6.72%. As a group, research analysts expect that Precision Drilling Co. will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Precision Drilling

Precision Drilling Corporation, a drilling company, provides onshore drilling, completion, and production services to exploration and production companies in the oil and natural gas and geothermal industries in North America and the Middle East. The company operates through Contract Drilling Services and Completion and Production Services segments.