Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 101,934 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,736,974 shares of the company’s stock after selling 101,934 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.79% of Weatherford International worth $529,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 299,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,519,000 after acquiring an additional 43,244 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 3.7% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter valued at $209,000. Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Weatherford International during the third quarter worth about $501,000. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Weatherford International in the third quarter worth $4,434,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total transaction of $164,465.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,739.25. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Up 1.8%

WFRD stock opened at $106.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.80. 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 PLC has a 12 month low of $36.74 and a 12 month high of $107.13.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.49. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 dividend yield of 1.0%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 18.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WFRD shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.25.

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.