Weatherford International PLC $WFRD Shares Sold by Capital Research Global Investors

Capital Research Global Investors lessened its holdings in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 28.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,066,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,606,903 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors owned 0.06% of Weatherford International worth $318,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WFRD. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 223.0% in the 1st 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 period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 129.3% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 1st quarter valued at about $258,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 26.8% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Weatherford International by 83.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Weatherford International stock opened at $97.17 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $103.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.29. Weatherford International PLC has a 52 week low of $46.20 and a 52 week high of $113.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.47. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 9.49%.The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 17.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Weatherford International from $134.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.67.

About Weatherford International

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.