Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) CEO Girish Saligram Sells 100,000 Shares of Stock

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD opened at $101.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 0.79. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $85.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.50. Weatherford International PLC has a 52-week low of $36.74 and a 52-week high of $106.41.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.49. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. Weatherford International’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is currently 18.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Weatherford International in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WFRD. Citigroup boosted their price target on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.50.

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.