Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Trading 5.2% Higher on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) traded up 5.2% during trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $126.00 and last traded at $124.18. 242,464 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 812,216 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.09.

The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 58.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Weatherford International has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.58, for a total transaction of $1,170,960.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,420,081.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Weatherford International news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.58, for a total transaction of $1,170,960.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,420,081.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 40,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.91, for a total transaction of $4,001,404.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at $12,365,629.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,455 shares of company stock worth $13,628,764. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,653,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 20,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 77,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,916,000 after buying an additional 9,799 shares in the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 4,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 17,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,054,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Stock Down 1.1 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $113.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.50. The stock has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

About Weatherford International

Weatherford International plc, an energy services company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil, geothermal, and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Drilling and Evaluation; Well Construction and Completions; and Production and Intervention.