Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $105.3333.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WFRD. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $115.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weatherford International news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WFRD. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 127.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% in 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. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of Weatherford International stock opened at $108.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.31. Weatherford International has a 1 year low of $42.58 and a 1 year high of $112.31.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.47. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 28.31%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is 17.21%.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.