Desmond J. Mills Sells 19,425 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total transaction of $1,311,381.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,361.49. This trade represents a 52.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Weatherford International Stock Up 1.6 %

WFRD stock opened at $67.90 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.36 and a 200 day moving average of $85.52. The firm has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. Weatherford International plc has a twelve month low of $60.45 and a twelve month high of $135.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. On average, research analysts forecast that Weatherford International plc will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 29.4% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 405.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the third quarter valued at $1,783,000. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 80.8% during the third quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 20,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,781,000 after buying an additional 9,372 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $147.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.25.

About Weatherford International

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.