Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Shares Purchased by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 107.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,514 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,764 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $1,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Weatherford International by 190.4% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 546.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 55.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 1,002.0% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Weatherford International in the first quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WFRD. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $69.00) on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Weatherford International from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.63.

Weatherford International Trading Down 0.5%

Weatherford International stock opened at $58.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.76. Weatherford International PLC has a 1 year low of $36.74 and a 1 year high of $118.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.21.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 34.87% and a net margin of 9.35%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.48%.

Weatherford International Profile

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.