Brokerages Set Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Target Price at $93.25

Shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $93.25.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WFRD shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Zacks Research lowered Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total value of $164,465.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,673 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,739.25. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $104.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 0.79. Weatherford International has a twelve month low of $36.74 and a twelve month high of $107.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.49. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. Weatherford International’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. This is a boost from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.55%.

About Weatherford International

Weatherford International (NASDAQ: WFRD) is a global oilfield services company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of equipment and technologies for oil and natural gas drilling, evaluation, completion and production. The company’s core offerings include well construction services such as directional drilling and wellbore positioning, well completion solutions that encompass sand control and zonal isolation technologies, and production enhancement services involving artificial lift systems and well intervention tools.

In addition to its comprehensive service lines, Weatherford provides a range of drilling optimization and reservoir evaluation products.