Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Price Target Raised to $105.00

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $94.00 to $105.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WFRD. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.56.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Weatherford International stock opened at $95.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 0.83. 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 has a 12 month low of $36.74 and a 12 month high of $110.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $96.38 and its 200-day moving average is $81.82.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released 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. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.07% and a net margin of 8.76%.The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This is an increase from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total transaction of $10,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 20.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 270.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 110.8% in the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 708,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,629,000 after purchasing an additional 372,192 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth $1,014,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 6.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.