Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $107.63.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James lowered 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, February 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total transaction of $2,944,895.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,272,507.23. This represents a 26.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $675,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,835.04. This represents a 32.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 92,692 shares of company stock valued at $6,207,725 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WFRD. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth about $571,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth about $546,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 154.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 38,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,813,000 after purchasing an additional 23,685 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 500,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,815,000 after acquiring an additional 43,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 59.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after acquiring an additional 11,680 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $53.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.78. Weatherford International has a 1 year low of $51.24 and a 1 year high of $135.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 7.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. Equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.88%.

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.