Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) CEO Girish Saligram Sells 100,000 Shares

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Weatherford International Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of WFRD traded down $2.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $101.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,006,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,286,048. The company has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.18. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $36.74 and a twelve month high of $106.41.

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

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This is a boost from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,673,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,245,000 after purchasing an additional 98,663 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 712.8% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,812,000 after buying an additional 1,443,512 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 43.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,572,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,601,000 after buying an additional 476,575 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,301,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,068,000 after buying an additional 57,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 1,040.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,244,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,392,000 after buying an additional 1,135,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFRD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.50.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.