Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $152.50.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James upped their price objective on Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Weatherford International from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of Weatherford International stock opened at $133.79 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.64. Weatherford International has a 12 month low of $76.07 and a 12 month high of $135.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 52.88%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Weatherford International’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In related news, Director Charles M. Sledge sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.47, for a total transaction of $1,234,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,041,049.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,965,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $459,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,254,000 after purchasing an additional 120,401 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 287.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 18,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 21,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

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.