Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 26,094 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its holdings in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 30.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 58,915 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,094 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $5,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Weatherford International by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Weatherford International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.44.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In related news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $963,088.83. This represents a 34.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $1,357,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,187 shares in the company, 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. 2.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $83.58 on Wednesday. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $52.70 and a twelve month high of $113.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $92.23 and its 200-day moving average is $95.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.70%.

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.