Weatherford International PLC $WFRD Shares Bought by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 43.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,324 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,384 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $5,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 712.8% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,512 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 1,040.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,244,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,338 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth $61,399,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 1,096.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 855,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,971,000 after buying an additional 784,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Weatherford International by 154.3% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,159,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,324,000 after buying an additional 703,401 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $1,357,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,033,945.08. This represents a 56.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Benjamin Duster sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.09, for a total transaction of $516,540.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $963,088.83. This trade represents a 34.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 26,094 shares of company stock worth $2,244,487 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $92.70 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $88.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.02. The stock has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Weatherford International PLC has a 52-week low of $54.69 and a 52-week high of $113.15.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released 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). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 7.66%.The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is 21.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WFRD shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $113.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.56.

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.