Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $114.50.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $120.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $79.72 on Friday. Weatherford International has a twelve month low of $60.84 and a twelve month high of $113.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.54.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 21.50%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.2750 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jacqueline Mutschler sold 4,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total value of $370,507.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,632,916.50. This trade represents a 12.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Neal Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 12,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,033,945.08. This trade represents a 56.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,094 shares of company stock worth $2,244,487. 2.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WFRD. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 12.4% during 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 last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 1,040.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,244,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,392,000 after buying an additional 1,135,338 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 8.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Weatherford International by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 794,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,166,000 after buying an additional 106,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Weatherford International in the 4th quarter valued at $61,399,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.