Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Position in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,416,522 shares of the company’s stock after selling 123,205 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.97% of Weatherford International worth $133,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Weatherford International by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the third quarter worth about $52,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Trading Down 3.1%

Weatherford International stock opened at $85.92 on Tuesday. Weatherford International PLC has a 12 month low of $52.70 and a 12 month high of $113.15. The company has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 7.66%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WFRD. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Weatherford International from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.44.

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.