Norden Group LLC Acquires 1,553 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 33.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,206 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 364.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 14,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,273,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $675,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,835.04. This trade represents a 32.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total value of $1,311,381.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,361.49. The trade was a 52.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WFRD shares. Raymond James lowered their target price on Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.63.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $56.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.01. The company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.07. Weatherford International plc has a fifty-two week low of $56.38 and a fifty-two week high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 9.18%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 14.88%.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.