Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Shares Bought by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC grew its stake in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,638,934 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 65,931 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned 5.01% of Weatherford International worth $260,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Weatherford International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,760,000 after acquiring an additional 270,775 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,777,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,877,000 after purchasing an additional 144,396 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,267,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,555,000 after buying an additional 68,553 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 917,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,723,000 after acquiring an additional 204,317 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,678,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In related news, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $675,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,835.04. This represents a 32.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 shares were sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total transaction of $1,311,381.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,361.49. The trade was a 52.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,930 shares of company stock worth $5,861,718 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of WFRD stock opened at $43.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.40, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.70. Weatherford International plc has a one year low of $36.74 and a one year high of $135.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.01.

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

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 14.88%.

Weatherford International 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.