Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) CAO Desmond J. Mills Sells 6,531 Shares

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $521,565.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $932,764.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Weatherford International Trading Down 1.1 %

WFRD traded down $0.84 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.16. 1,264,420 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 914,476. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $92.77 and its 200 day moving average is $109.41. Weatherford International plc has a 12 month low of $77.29 and a 12 month high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 46.25%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 364.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 50.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 382 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WFRD. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $155.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $144.88.

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.