Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Price Target Cut to $116.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

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

WFRD has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.50.

Weatherford International Price Performance

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $84.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $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 firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth 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). The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 7.66%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Benjamin Duster, IV sold 6,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.09, for a total value of $516,540.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $963,088.83. The trade was a 34.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 56.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 26,094 shares of company stock worth $2,244,487 over the last quarter. 2.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,760,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,505,000 after acquiring an additional 194,654 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Weatherford International by 1,040.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,244,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,392,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,338 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 849,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,464,000 after purchasing an additional 63,445 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Weatherford International by 15.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 794,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,166,000 after purchasing an additional 106,716 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter valued at $61,399,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Weatherford International

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.