Jacqueline Mutschler Sells 4,094 Shares of Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Director Jacqueline Mutschler sold 4,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total value of $370,507.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,632,916.50. This represents a 12.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of Weatherford International stock opened at $92.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Weatherford International PLC has a one year low of $54.69 and a one year high of $113.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.87.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 21.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. Analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Weatherford International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $113.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WFRD. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 223.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 122,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,568,000 after purchasing an additional 84,684 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 129.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 143,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,695,000 after purchasing an additional 81,046 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the first quarter valued at $258,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Weatherford International by 83.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently 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.