Girish Saligram Sells 100,000 Shares of Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Weatherford International Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $103.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.79. Weatherford International PLC has a 12 month low of $36.74 and a 12 month high of $106.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $86.09 and its 200-day moving average is $72.72. 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 (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WFRD shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Weatherford International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WFRD. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

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.