Short Interest in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Decreases By 16.7%

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,142,428 shares, a drop of 16.7% from the March 31st total of 4,970,139 shares. Approximately 5.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,106,805 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Weatherford International by 127.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Weatherford International Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $110.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Weatherford International has a 12-month low of $41.20 and a 12-month high of $112.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.91.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 9.49%.Weatherford International’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Weatherford International from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.22.

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.