Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Friday, October 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.50.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD opened at $105.51 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.86. Weatherford International has a 52-week low of $36.74 and a 52-week high of $106.41. The company has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79 and a beta of 0.79. 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 released 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. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total value of $164,465.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,739.25. This represents a 11.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WFRD. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,443,512 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 1,005.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,056,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,148,000 after buying an additional 960,832 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the second quarter valued at about $41,542,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 154.3% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,159,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,324,000 after acquiring an additional 703,401 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 1,084.6% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 686,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,513,000 after acquiring an additional 628,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

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.