Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Receives $147.29 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $147.29.

WFRD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. Evercore ISI reduced their price target 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. 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, November 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $932,764.80. This trade represents a 35.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Weatherford International in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Weatherford International in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in Weatherford International in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Weatherford International by 31.0% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

WFRD opened at $85.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.69. Weatherford International has a 52-week low of $77.00 and a 52-week high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 46.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 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.