Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Receives $114.25 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $114.25.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WFRD shares. UBS Group upgraded Weatherford International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $113.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research downgraded Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $95.88 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.90. Weatherford International has a 1-year low of $60.23 and a 1-year high of $113.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.44.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 7.66%.The company’s revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.70%.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, Director Benjamin Duster, IV sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.09, for a total value of $516,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $963,088.83. This represents a 34.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jacqueline Mutschler sold 4,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total transaction of $370,507.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,632,916.50. This represents a 12.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 26,094 shares of company stock worth $2,244,487 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Weatherford International by 127.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

About Weatherford International

Weatherford International (NASDAQ: WFRD) is a global oilfield services company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of equipment and technologies for oil and natural gas drilling, evaluation, completion and production. The company’s core offerings include well construction services such as directional drilling and wellbore positioning, well completion solutions that encompass sand control and zonal isolation technologies, and production enhancement services involving artificial lift systems and well intervention tools.

In addition to its comprehensive service lines, Weatherford provides a range of drilling optimization and reservoir evaluation products.