Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $131.00.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Weatherford International from $138.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.57, for a total value of $6,214,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 146,895 shares in the company, valued at $15,213,915.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.57, for a total value of $6,214,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 146,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,213,915.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total transaction of $1,163,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,241,440.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,455 shares of company stock worth $13,628,764 over the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Huntington National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,306,000 after buying an additional 9,705 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 287.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after buying an additional 18,330 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Weatherford International by 1,564.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 281,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,398,000 after buying an additional 264,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new stake in Weatherford International during the third quarter worth approximately $738,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD opened at $113.71 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.25. The stock has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 0.73. Weatherford International has a 1-year low of $55.81 and a 1-year high of $127.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 56.68% and a net margin of 8.12%. Weatherford International’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.