Brokerages Set Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Price Target at $107.63

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $107.63.

WFRD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Benchmark dropped their price target on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded 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.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,835.04. This trade represents a 32.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total value of $1,311,381.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,899 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,361.49. The trade was a 52.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 92,692 shares of company stock valued at $6,207,725 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WFRD. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 130.8% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 190.4% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 392 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 364.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Trading Down 8.0 %

WFRD opened at $56.96 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.07. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.60. Weatherford International has a twelve month low of $56.38 and a twelve month 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 2.01.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 9.18%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.88%.

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.