Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 125,826 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,611,148 shares of the company’s stock after selling 125,826 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Weatherford International worth $595,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 4,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 179.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 18,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after acquiring an additional 11,676 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at $315,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 24,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after acquiring an additional 5,626 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at $899,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WFRD shares. Wall Street Zen cut Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Weatherford International from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was 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 available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Weatherford International stock opened at $109.49 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Weatherford International PLC has a 12-month low of $42.57 and a 12-month high of $112.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.87.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 9.49%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 6th. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is currently 17.21%.

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.