Edgestream Partners L.P. Invests $3.62 Million in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 42,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,615,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 364.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted 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 valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in Weatherford International by 1,516.2% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFRD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America reduced their price objective 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. 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 note on Thursday, October 24th. 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 note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, November 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.29.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of WFRD stock opened at $82.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.27. Weatherford International plc has a 12-month low of $77.00 and a 12-month high of $135.00. 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 (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Weatherford International plc will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,680 shares in the company, valued at $932,764.80. This represents a 35.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total value of $639,397.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.