New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Takes $1.15 Million Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 16,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Weatherford International in the 4th quarter worth about $65,678,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. bought a new position in Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 105.4% in the fourth quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 33,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 17,332 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,760,000 after buying an additional 270,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,067,000. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $53.55 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.68 and a 200-day moving average of $74.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.61. Weatherford International plc has a 12 month low of $51.24 and a 12 month high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. Sell-side analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is currently 14.88%.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total transaction of $1,311,381.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,899 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,361.49. This represents a 52.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $2,944,895.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,272,507.23. This represents a 26.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.75.

Weatherford International 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.