Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock Price Up 4.5% – Still a Buy?

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) shares rose 4.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $99.18 and last traded at $98.0040. 140,638 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 1,270,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFRD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group raised Weatherford International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $113.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut 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, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.25.

Weatherford International Trading Up 2.4%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.63. The stock has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 21.50%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.70%.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In related news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 6,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.09, for a total transaction of $516,540.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,187 shares in the company, valued at $963,088.83. This trade represents a 34.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $1,357,440.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,187 shares in the company, valued at $1,033,945.08. The trade was a 56.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,094 shares of company stock worth $2,244,487. Insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 8,014.2% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,780,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,635,000 after purchasing an additional 6,697,233 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,156,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,571,000 after buying an additional 281,984 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,928,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,903,000 after buying an additional 66,553 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 12.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,760,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,505,000 after buying an additional 194,654 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 712.8% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,512 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.