Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Given “Buy” Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their buy rating on shares of Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $155.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays assumed coverage on Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. They issued an overweight rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Weatherford International from $138.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TheStreet raised Weatherford International from a c rating to a b rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $143.75.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of WFRD stock opened at $127.97 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.73. Weatherford International has a one year low of $55.81 and a one year high of $129.70.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 52.88% and a net margin of 8.61%. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 40,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.91, for a total value of $4,001,404.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at $12,365,629.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total value of $1,163,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,801 shares in the company, valued at $1,241,440.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 40,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.91, for a total value of $4,001,404.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,365,629.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 145,455 shares of company stock valued at $14,863,464 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the third quarter worth about $114,430,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth about $89,762,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 1,261.1% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 381,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,425,000 after acquiring an additional 353,100 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 101.1% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 656,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,309,000 after acquiring an additional 330,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 1,564.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 281,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,398,000 after acquiring an additional 264,284 shares in the last quarter. 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.