Arbiter Partners Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 10,000 Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Arbiter Partners Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,000. Weatherford International accounts for 0.4% of Arbiter Partners Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 223.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 122,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,568,000 after acquiring an additional 84,684 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 129.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 143,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,695,000 after buying an additional 81,046 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 1st quarter valued at $258,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 39.5% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Weatherford International during the second quarter valued at approximately $406,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,739.25. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of Weatherford International stock opened at $95.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 0.78. 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 PLC has a twelve month low of $36.74 and a twelve month high of $110.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $93.37 and its 200 day moving average is $77.60.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.07% and a net margin of 8.76%.The firm’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WFRD. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.50.

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.