Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.5556.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WFRD shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on Weatherford International from $94.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WFRD. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $95.29 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $96.49 and its 200-day moving average is $82.18. Weatherford International has a 1-year low of $36.74 and a 1-year high of $110.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 0.83.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This is a boost from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.55%.

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.