Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

WFRD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research cut Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.25.

Weatherford International Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of WFRD stock opened at $101.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Weatherford International has a 12-month low of $36.74 and a 12-month high of $106.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $87.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.31.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.49. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.07% and a net margin of 8.76%.The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total transaction of $10,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,739.25. This trade represents a 11.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth $167,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Weatherford International by 281.3% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 976 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in Weatherford International by 223.5% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 186,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,633,000 after purchasing an additional 129,176 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 127.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

About Weatherford International

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.