Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,834 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,043 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WFRD. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 551.1% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,440,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,356,000 after buying an additional 1,219,553 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 36.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,573,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,419,000 after buying an additional 959,783 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 30.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,324,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,443,000 after buying an additional 310,259 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 402.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 324,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,555,000 after buying an additional 259,924 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 917,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,723,000 after buying an additional 204,317 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Trading Down 4.5 %

NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $54.37 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $68.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.69. Weatherford International plc has a 52 week low of $53.22 and a 52 week high of $135.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.60.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.88%.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In related news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total transaction of $2,944,895.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at $8,272,507.23. This represents a 26.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 17,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,361.49. This trade represents a 52.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFRD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.63.

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.