Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Director Charles M. Sledge Sells 10,000 Shares

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Director Charles M. Sledge sold 10,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.47, for a total transaction of $1,234,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,041,049.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Weatherford International stock opened at $127.97 on Friday. Weatherford International plc has a 52 week low of $55.81 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.73.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 52.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Weatherford International has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,254,000 after acquiring an additional 120,401 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in Weatherford International by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,282,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,127,000 after purchasing an additional 76,872 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Weatherford International by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,646,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,742,000 after purchasing an additional 76,058 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Weatherford International by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,340,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,097,000 after purchasing an additional 65,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Weatherford International by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,284,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,675,000 after purchasing an additional 191,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Company Profile

Weatherford International plc, an energy services company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil, geothermal, and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Drilling and Evaluation; Well Construction and Completions; and Production and Intervention.