Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Given New $105.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $94.00 to $105.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays reduced 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 report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.56.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $94.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.64. Weatherford International has a twelve month low of $36.74 and a twelve month high of $110.57.

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

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 1.2%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is currently 18.55%.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WFRD. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 1.8% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,673,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,245,000 after purchasing an additional 98,663 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,156,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,571,000 after buying an additional 281,984 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Weatherford International by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,928,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,903,000 after buying an additional 66,553 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in Weatherford International by 712.8% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,812,000 after buying an additional 1,443,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Weatherford International by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,572,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,601,000 after acquiring an additional 476,575 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.