Blue Trust Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 643.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,278 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,106 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $92,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth $157,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In related news, EVP Depinder Sandhu sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.41, for a total transaction of $929,740.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $590,517.72. This trade represents a 61.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 21,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,835.04. This represents a 32.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on WFRD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.63.

Weatherford International Stock Down 6.8 %

Weatherford International stock opened at $65.48 on Friday. Weatherford International plc has a 1-year low of $60.45 and a 1-year high of $135.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.12.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 9.18%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.88%.

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.