Weatherford International PLC $WFRD Shares Bought by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 822,117 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,155 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.15% of Weatherford International worth $56,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WFRD. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Weatherford International during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 69.8% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total transaction of $164,465.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,673 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,739.25. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD opened at $105.46 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.84. The stock has a market cap of $7.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78 and a beta of 0.78. Weatherford International PLC has a 1-year low of $36.74 and a 1-year high of $108.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.65.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.49. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.07% and a net margin of 8.76%.The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. Weatherford International’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This is a boost from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.55%.

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.