State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 245 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its position in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,285 shares of the company’s stock after selling 245 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $1,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 551.1% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,440,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,356,000 after buying an additional 1,219,553 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Weatherford International by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,573,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,419,000 after acquiring an additional 959,783 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,324,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,443,000 after purchasing an additional 310,259 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Weatherford International by 402.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 324,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,555,000 after purchasing an additional 259,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 63.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 461,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,007,000 after purchasing an additional 179,064 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $2,944,895.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,272,507.23. The trade was a 26.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $675,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,835.04. This represents a 32.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

WFRD opened at $67.29 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $71.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. Weatherford International plc has a 52 week low of $60.45 and a 52 week high of $135.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.80.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WFRD. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price 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. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Benchmark dropped 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $147.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.25.

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.