Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 204,317 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 917,530 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 204,317 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 1.26% of Weatherford International worth $65,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 364.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $73.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. Weatherford International plc has a 52 week low of $60.45 and a 52 week high of $135.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.97.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 9.18%. Research analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 14.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.63.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $675,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,835.04. This represents a 32.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total transaction of $2,944,895.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,272,507.23. This trade represents a 26.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 92,692 shares of company stock valued at $6,207,725. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.