Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 90,416 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 371,374 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90,416 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $26,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,760,000 after purchasing an additional 270,775 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,777,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,877,000 after buying an additional 144,396 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Weatherford International by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,267,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,555,000 after acquiring an additional 68,553 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 917,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,723,000 after acquiring an additional 204,317 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 4th quarter worth $65,678,000. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WFRD. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of 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. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Two research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $2,944,895.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,272,507.23. This represents a 26.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total value of $1,311,381.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,361.49. This trade represents a 52.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 87,930 shares of company stock worth $5,861,718. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Weatherford International Trading Down 12.4 %

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $39.79 on Monday. Weatherford International plc has a 12-month low of $36.99 and a 12-month high of $135.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.70.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly 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, analysts forecast that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio 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.