OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Invests $1.17 Million in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 12,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,173,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,156,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,571,000 after buying an additional 281,984 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,928,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,903,000 after acquiring an additional 66,553 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 12.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,760,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,505,000 after acquiring an additional 194,654 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 712.8% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,512 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,539,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,505,000 after acquiring an additional 238,154 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of WFRD stock opened at $82.31 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $91.65 and its 200 day moving average is $95.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.86. Weatherford International PLC has a 12 month low of $52.70 and a 12 month high of $113.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.35). Weatherford International had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 21.50%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other news, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $1,357,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,033,945.08. The trade was a 56.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Benjamin Duster sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.09, for a total value of $516,540.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $963,088.83. The trade was a 34.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFRD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.56.

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.