Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from The Goldman Sachs Group

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its price objective trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $106.00 to $94.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $120.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.86.

Weatherford International Trading Up 1.6%

WFRD opened at $76.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.34. Weatherford International has a one year low of $61.75 and a one year high of $113.15. The company has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.61.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 7.66%. Weatherford International’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, Director Jacqueline C. Mutschler sold 4,094 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total value of $370,507.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 29,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,632,916.50. The trade was a 12.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Benjamin Duster, IV sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.09, for a total transaction of $516,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $963,088.83. This trade represents a 34.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,094 shares of company stock worth $2,244,487. Insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Weatherford International by 12.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,760,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,505,000 after purchasing an additional 194,654 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 15.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 794,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,166,000 after buying an additional 106,716 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 849,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,464,000 after buying an additional 63,445 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the first quarter worth about $50,052,000. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth about $46,899,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Weatherford International

Weatherford International plc is an energy services company that provides equipment, technology and services to the oil and natural gas industry. Its offerings support the exploration, drilling, completion, production and intervention stages of the well life cycle, helping energy companies develop and manage onshore and offshore assets.

The company’s portfolio includes drilling and formation-evaluation services, well construction and completion technologies, production optimization, artificial-lift systems, well intervention and pressure-control services.