Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp Sells 17,130 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp decreased its stake in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,130 shares during the quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $1,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 326,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,369,000 after purchasing an additional 55,183 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 270.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 19,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14,505 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 110.8% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 708,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,629,000 after buying an additional 372,192 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Weatherford International during the third quarter worth about $1,014,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in Weatherford International by 6.0% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 303,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,792,000 after buying an additional 17,330 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFRD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.50.

Weatherford International Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $86.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.98 and a 200-day moving average of $79.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.78. Weatherford International PLC has a 52 week low of $36.74 and a 52 week high of $110.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.19.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.07% and a net margin of 8.76%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This is a boost from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.