Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 16,435 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 313,738 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,435 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.43% of Weatherford International worth $26,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Weatherford International in the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 107.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,715,000 after buying an additional 12,170 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in Weatherford International by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,599,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $877,152,000 after acquiring an additional 53,017 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 23.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 918 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Down 2.0 %

WFRD opened at $81.86 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.96. Weatherford International plc has a 52 week low of $77.00 and a 52 week high of $135.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.60.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.41. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WFRD shares. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $161.00 to $158.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $147.29.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total value of $639,397.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $521,565.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $932,764.80. This trade represents a 35.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.