Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) EVP Sells $346,006.92 in Stock

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $807,179.94. This represents a 30.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.39. Weatherford International plc has a 52-week low of $66.23 and a 52-week high of $135.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business 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 firm earned $1.66 EPS. Weatherford International’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WFRD. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 364.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp boosted its position in Weatherford International by 1,516.2% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 598 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $147.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target 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. Bank of America lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 research note on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.25.

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.