Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Short Interest Down 17.2% in February

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,177,275 shares, a decrease of 17.2% from the January 29th total of 2,628,872 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,279,545 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,279,545 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total transaction of $164,465.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,739.25. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total transaction of $10,550,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Weatherford International by 1.8% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,673,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,245,000 after purchasing an additional 98,663 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,156,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,571,000 after purchasing an additional 281,984 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Weatherford International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,928,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,903,000 after buying an additional 66,553 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 712.8% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,812,000 after buying an additional 1,443,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,572,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,601,000 after buying an additional 476,575 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Weatherford International Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of WFRD opened at $95.80 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $93.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.60. Weatherford International has a 12-month low of $36.74 and a 12-month high of $110.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 0.78.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WFRD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their target price on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.50.

Weatherford International Company Profile

Weatherford International (NASDAQ: WFRD) is a global oilfield services company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of equipment and technologies for oil and natural gas drilling, evaluation, completion and production. The company’s core offerings include well construction services such as directional drilling and wellbore positioning, well completion solutions that encompass sand control and zonal isolation technologies, and production enhancement services involving artificial lift systems and well intervention tools.

In addition to its comprehensive service lines, Weatherford provides a range of drilling optimization and reservoir evaluation products.