UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock Price

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $120.00 to $116.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 38.10% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Barclays cut 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 report on Friday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.50.

Weatherford International Trading Up 2.2%

WFRD stock opened at $84.00 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $88.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Weatherford International has a fifty-two week low of $60.84 and a fifty-two week high of $113.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.90.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.35). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 7.66%.The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. Weatherford International’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weatherford International news, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,357,440.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,187 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Benjamin Duster, IV sold 6,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.09, for a total transaction of $516,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $963,088.83. This trade represents a 34.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,094 shares of company stock valued at $2,244,487. Insiders own 2.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Weatherford International by 12.4% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,135,338 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 15.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 794,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,166,000 after buying an additional 106,716 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 849,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,464,000 after acquiring an additional 63,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth $61,399,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Weatherford International Company Profile

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ: WFRD) is an energy services company that provides equipment, technology and services to the oil and natural gas industry. Its offerings support the exploration, drilling, completion, production and intervention of onshore and offshore wells.

The company’s portfolio includes drilling and well-construction systems, formation evaluation tools, well-completion equipment, production optimization technologies, artificial-lift systems and well-intervention services.