Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with 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 ratings on the stock in the last year is $126.56.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WFRD shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $138.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $1,078,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 18,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,785,406.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $1,078,440.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 18,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,785,406.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 40,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.91, for a total transaction of $4,001,404.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,365,629.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,455 shares of company stock worth $13,628,764. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 189.0% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 539.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 145.7% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 312 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of Weatherford International stock opened at $117.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Weatherford International has a 1-year low of $55.81 and a 1-year high of $127.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83 and a beta of 0.73.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.48. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 56.68%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Weatherford International’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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.