Lazard Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 24.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,570 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,144 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $3,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 4.1% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.09, for a total transaction of $516,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,187 shares in the company, valued at $963,088.83. This represents a 34.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Weatherford International Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of WFRD stock opened at $87.79 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.71. 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 PLC has a 1-year low of $52.70 and a 1-year high of $113.15. The firm has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WFRD. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research cut Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.56.

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.