American Century Companies Inc. Buys 591,694 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 103.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,165,753 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 591,694 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.63% of Weatherford International worth $79,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 712.8% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,512 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 94.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,095,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,132,000 after purchasing an additional 533,635 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 1,005.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,056,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,148,000 after purchasing an additional 960,832 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 196.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 825,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,343,000 after purchasing an additional 547,044 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Weatherford International during the second quarter valued at $41,542,000. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Stock Down 5.3%

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $97.83 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.50 and a beta of 0.78. Weatherford International PLC has a 52 week low of $36.74 and a 52 week high of $110.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.47.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.49. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on WFRD shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total transaction of $10,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total value of $164,465.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,673 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,739.25. This represents a 11.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Weatherford International 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.