Brokerages Set Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) PT at $140.50

Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $121.25.

WFRD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $147.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $521,565.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares in the company, valued at $932,764.80. This represents a 35.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 364.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of Weatherford International stock opened at $67.10 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58. Weatherford International has a 52 week low of $66.23 and a 52 week high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.41. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 46.25% and a net margin of 9.65%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.04%.

About Weatherford International

Weatherford International plc, an energy services company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil, geothermal, and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Drilling and Evaluation; Well Construction and Completions; and Production and Intervention.