Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Price Target Lowered to $115.00 at Citigroup

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its target price decreased by Citigroup from $130.00 to $115.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WFRD. Barclays decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $161.00 to $158.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $147.29.

Weatherford International Stock Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $81.86 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.59 and a 200-day moving average of $105.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.60. Weatherford International has a 52 week low of $77.00 and a 52 week high of $135.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 46.25% and a net margin of 9.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In related news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $521,565.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $932,764.80. This represents a 35.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total value of $639,397.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new stake in Weatherford International in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,653,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 107.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 12,170 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 2nd quarter valued at $20,584,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,409,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $739,730,000 after acquiring an additional 182,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 1st quarter valued at $2,132,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Weatherford International

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.