Legato Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Legato Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,642 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,859 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 36.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 1.9% during the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 14,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Trading Up 9.3 %

Shares of WFRD opened at $73.93 on Friday. Weatherford International plc has a fifty-two week low of $60.45 and a fifty-two week high of $135.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $70.49 and its 200 day moving average is $84.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. Sell-side analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 6.14 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 Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $2,944,895.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,272,507.23. This represents a 26.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $675,700.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 92,692 shares of company stock valued at $6,207,725 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lowered their target price 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, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.63.

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.