State of Michigan Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

State of Michigan Retirement System lowered its position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $1,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Weatherford International in the third quarter valued at $571,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Weatherford International in the 4th quarter valued at $546,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Weatherford International by 59.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after buying an additional 11,680 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its stake in Weatherford International by 1,138.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 32,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,728,000 after buying an additional 29,530 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 643.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WFRD. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.63.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $56.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.61. Weatherford International plc has a fifty-two week low of $52.10 and a fifty-two week high of $135.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.56 and a 200-day moving average of $79.64.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,179.94. This represents a 30.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 21,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,835.04. This represents a 32.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 92,692 shares of company stock valued at $6,207,725. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.