Renaissance Technologies LLC Decreases Stake in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 72.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 65,953 shares of the company’s stock after selling 174,300 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $6,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Weatherford International by 1,040.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,244,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,392,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,338 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 77.6% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 537,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,092,000 after acquiring an additional 234,989 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Weatherford International by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,615,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224 shares during the period. GeoSphere Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Weatherford International by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. GeoSphere Capital Management LLC now owns 42,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,326,000 after acquiring an additional 17,500 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,692,000. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFRD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Weatherford International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $113.00 to $114.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.56.

Weatherford International Stock Up 1.2%

WFRD stock opened at $89.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.80. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $52.70 and a twelve month high of $113.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.35). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 7.66%.The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $963,088.83. This trade represents a 34.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $1,357,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,033,945.08. The trade was a 56.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.