Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 170,913 shares of the company’s stock after selling 103,659 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Weatherford International worth $14,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 50.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 382 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 918 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFRD has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.29.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of WFRD opened at $81.86 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. Weatherford International plc has a 12 month low of $77.00 and a 12 month high of $135.00. The company has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.60.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 46.25% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.04%.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In related news, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total transaction of $639,397.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $521,565.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,680 shares in the company, valued at $932,764.80. This trade represents a 35.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Weatherford International

Weatherford International plc, an energy services company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil, geothermal, and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Drilling and Evaluation; Well Construction and Completions; and Production and Intervention.