David John Reed Sells 4,762 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.66, for a total value of $346,006.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,179.94. This trade represents a 30.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Weatherford International Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of Weatherford International stock opened at $72.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Weatherford International plc has a 52-week low of $66.23 and a 52-week high of $135.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.74.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 46.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 14.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WFRD. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 364.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 36.9% in the third 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 raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 1,516.2% in the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 598 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.