Barclays Cuts Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Price Target to $105.00

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $147.00 to $105.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.25.

Weatherford International Price Performance

WFRD opened at $67.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.42, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $81.97 and a 200-day moving average of $98.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.04. Weatherford International has a 1-year low of $66.23 and a 1-year high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 46.25% and a net margin of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. Weatherford International’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 14.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $521,565.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $932,764.80. This represents a 35.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WFRD. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Weatherford International by 31.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 36.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 20.7% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 10.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 26.7% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% 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.