Weatherford International PLC $WFRD Holdings Raised by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 193.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 149,935 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,882 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $14,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 223.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 122,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,568,000 after purchasing an additional 84,684 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 129.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 143,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,695,000 after buying an additional 81,046 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 1st quarter valued at about $258,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group raised Weatherford International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $113.00 to $114.00 in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Citigroup cut their price target on Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.56.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In related news, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 12,187 shares in the company, valued at $1,033,945.08. This trade represents a 56.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Benjamin Duster sold 6,000 shares of Weatherford International 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 directly owned 11,187 shares in the company, valued at $963,088.83. The trade was a 34.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Weatherford International Trading Up 2.9%

Weatherford International stock opened at $84.71 on Friday. Weatherford International PLC has a 52-week low of $52.70 and a 52-week high of $113.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $91.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.77.

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

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors 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 yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is 21.70%.

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.