Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Receives $114.25 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $114.25.

WFRD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research cut Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th.

Weatherford International Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $95.88 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.48. The stock has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Weatherford International has a 12 month low of $60.23 and a 12 month high of $113.15.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.35). Weatherford International had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 21.50%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. Weatherford International’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th were paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.70%.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, Director Neal Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $1,357,440.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,033,945.08. This represents a 56.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jacqueline Mutschler sold 4,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total value of $370,507.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,632,916.50. The trade was a 12.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 26,094 shares of company stock valued at $2,244,487 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 31.1% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 16.4% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 6,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the second quarter valued at $1,671,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 8,014.2% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,780,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $552,635,000 after buying an additional 6,697,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Weatherford International in the 2nd quarter worth about $15,269,000. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

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.