Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Receives $121.25 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $121.25.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $147.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of Weatherford International 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $932,764.80. This trade represents a 35.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.66, for a total value of $346,006.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,179.94. The trade was a 30.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 36.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,573,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,419,000 after acquiring an additional 959,783 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Weatherford International by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,267,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,555,000 after purchasing an additional 68,553 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 551.1% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,440,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,553 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,324,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,443,000 after purchasing an additional 310,259 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 657,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,566,000 after purchasing an additional 38,700 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $70.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.04. The firm has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Weatherford International has a fifty-two week low of $66.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $78.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.03.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 46.25%. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Weatherford International’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.