Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Trading Up 5% – Here’s Why

Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) were up 5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $57.88 and last traded at $57.55. Approximately 183,422 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 990,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James cut their target price on Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of 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, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.63.

Weatherford International Trading Down 2.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.24.

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

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.88%.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In related news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total value of $1,311,381.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,899 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,361.49. This represents a 52.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.66, for a total transaction of $346,006.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,179.94. The trade was a 30.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 295.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,945,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,894,000 after acquiring an additional 4,443,823 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. bought a new stake in Weatherford International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,287,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 36.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,573,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,419,000 after purchasing an additional 959,783 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth $65,678,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 181.7% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,303,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,334,000 after buying an additional 840,456 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

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.