Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Short Interest Update

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,240,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the April 30th total of 2,710,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, Director Neal P. Goldman purchased 12,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $42.04 per share, with a total value of $504,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,064,074.44. This represents a 90.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Weatherford International by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,050,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,104,000 after acquiring an additional 347,584 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 295.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,945,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,894,000 after purchasing an additional 4,443,823 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,402,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,375,000 after purchasing an additional 298,811 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,638,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,657,000 after purchasing an additional 65,931 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in Weatherford International by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,777,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,877,000 after buying an additional 144,396 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Up 6.8%

NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $46.83 on Wednesday. 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 50 day moving average of $45.29 and a 200-day moving average of $60.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 6.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.73. Weatherford International has a 52 week low of $36.74 and a 52 week high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.14. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. Analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFRD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James lowered shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Benchmark decreased their target price 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 price target on shares of Weatherford International from $85.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.63.

Weatherford International Company 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.