Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys 90,000 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 225.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 130,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,000 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned 0.18% of Weatherford International worth $8,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 20.3% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 326,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,369,000 after purchasing an additional 55,183 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 270.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 19,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 14,505 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 110.8% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 708,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,629,000 after buying an additional 372,192 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,014,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 303,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,792,000 after buying an additional 17,330 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Weatherford International Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $86.53 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $95.02 and its 200 day moving average is $79.26. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $36.74 and a twelve month high of $110.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

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

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.55%.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WFRD. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Weatherford International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.50.

Weatherford International 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.