Brokerages Set Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) PT at $99.56

Shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.5556.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WFRD shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 20.3% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 326,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,369,000 after purchasing an additional 55,183 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 270.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 19,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14,505 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 110.8% during the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 708,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,629,000 after purchasing an additional 372,192 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the third quarter worth $1,014,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 6.0% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 303,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,792,000 after purchasing an additional 17,330 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $96.35 on Friday. Weatherford International has a 1-year low of $38.06 and a 1-year high of $110.57. The company has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $96.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.65.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.49. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.07% and a net margin of 8.76%.The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. Weatherford International’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.55%.

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.