Empowered Funds LLC Increases Stake in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 34.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 95,190 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,637 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.13% of Weatherford International worth $6,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WFRD. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 29.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 36.9% during 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 last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 405.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 80.8% in the third quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 20,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,781,000 after purchasing an additional 9,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the third quarter valued at $34,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Weatherford International stock opened at $67.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. Weatherford International plc has a 1-year low of $60.45 and a 1-year high of $135.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.52.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is 14.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $675,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,835.04. This represents a 32.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 11,109 shares in the company, valued at $807,179.94. The trade was a 30.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFRD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $147.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Weatherford International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.25.

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.