Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Trading Up 4.5% – What’s Next?

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) shares rose 4.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $99.18 and last traded at $98.0040. Approximately 140,638 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 1,270,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFRD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research lowered Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Weatherford International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $113.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.25.

Weatherford International Trading Down 3.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.54. The stock has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.90.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.35). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 7.66%.The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 21.70%.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In related news, Director Jacqueline C. Mutschler sold 4,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total value of $370,507.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 29,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,632,916.50. This represents a 12.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $1,357,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,187 shares in the company, valued at $1,033,945.08. This trade represents a 56.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,094 shares of company stock worth $2,244,487. 2.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its position in Weatherford International by 16.4% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 6,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in Weatherford International during the second quarter worth approximately $1,671,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $552,635,000 after purchasing an additional 6,697,233 shares during the last quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 2nd quarter valued at $15,269,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,736,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.