Oak Thistle LLC Purchases Shares of 21,619 Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 21,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,692,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WFRD. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 223.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 122,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,568,000 after buying an additional 84,684 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 129.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 143,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,695,000 after acquiring an additional 81,046 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the first quarter valued at about $258,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 26.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 18.5% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $102.20 on Thursday. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $38.06 and a twelve month high of $110.57. The company’s 50 day moving average is $96.85 and its 200 day moving average is $82.88. 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 company has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This is a boost from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.56.

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.