Brokerages Set Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Price Target at $97.50

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $97.50.

WFRD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weatherford International news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total transaction of $10,550,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 127.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Weatherford International stock opened at $86.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Weatherford International has a 12-month low of $36.74 and a 12-month high of $110.57.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This is a positive change from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.