Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Makes New $10.97 Million Investment in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 140,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,966,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.20% of Weatherford International at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WFRD. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 712.8% in the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443,512 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Weatherford International by 1,005.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,056,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,148,000 after buying an additional 960,832 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Weatherford International during the second quarter worth approximately $41,542,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Weatherford International by 154.3% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,159,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,324,000 after buying an additional 703,401 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 1,084.6% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 686,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,513,000 after buying an additional 628,100 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on WFRD shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.33.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of Weatherford International stock opened at $95.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 0.78. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $36.74 and a twelve month high of $110.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.08.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.49. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

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