Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Takes $20.73 Million Position in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 302,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,725,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. owned approximately 0.42% of Weatherford International at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Weatherford International in the third quarter valued at approximately $242,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 11.5% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 43,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,002,000 after acquiring an additional 4,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Weatherford International in the third quarter worth $4,983,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total transaction of $164,465.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,739.25. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFRD has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Friday, October 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.70.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $77.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.07. Weatherford International PLC has a fifty-two week low of $36.74 and a fifty-two week high of $82.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.26.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.03). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.28% and a net margin of 8.15%.The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 6th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.12%.

Weatherford International Company Profile

Weatherford International (NASDAQ: WFRD) is a global oilfield services company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of equipment and technologies for oil and natural gas drilling, evaluation, completion and production. The company’s core offerings include well construction services such as directional drilling and wellbore positioning, well completion solutions that encompass sand control and zonal isolation technologies, and production enhancement services involving artificial lift systems and well intervention tools.

In addition to its comprehensive service lines, Weatherford provides a range of drilling optimization and reservoir evaluation products.