Zions Bancorporation N.A. Invests $29,000 in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 105.4% during the fourth quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 33,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 17,332 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Weatherford International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,760,000 after acquiring an additional 270,775 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Weatherford International in the fourth quarter valued at $1,067,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 95,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,847,000 after purchasing an additional 4,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 280,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,093,000 after purchasing an additional 63,775 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFRD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark decreased their target price on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.63.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $54.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.24. Weatherford International plc has a 1-year low of $51.24 and a 1-year high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 14.88%.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total transaction of $2,944,895.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,272,507.23. The trade was a 26.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total transaction of $1,311,381.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,361.49. This represents a 52.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 92,692 shares of company stock valued at $6,207,725. Corporate 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.