Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Director Purchases $504,480.00 in Stock

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Director Neal P. Goldman acquired 12,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $42.04 per share, for a total transaction of $504,480.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 25,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,064,074.44. The trade was a 90.15 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Weatherford International Price Performance

WFRD opened at $42.12 on Tuesday. Weatherford International plc has a 12-month low of $36.74 and a 12-month high of $135.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.27, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.70.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.14. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Weatherford International during the third quarter valued at about $571,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at about $546,000. Amundi raised its stake in Weatherford International by 154.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 38,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,813,000 after buying an additional 23,685 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Weatherford International by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 500,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,815,000 after buying an additional 43,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Weatherford International in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,215,000. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WFRD. Barclays dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $85.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Benchmark dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.75.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.