HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 164 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,433 shares of the company’s stock after selling 164 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 364.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 31.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Weatherford International by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 1,516.2% during the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFRD has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America decreased their price target 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $147.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weatherford International news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $521,565.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $932,764.80. The trade was a 35.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of WFRD opened at $68.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58. Weatherford International plc has a 52-week low of $68.33 and a 52-week high of $135.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $82.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.25. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.41. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 46.25%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.04%.

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.