Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $160.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Weatherford International traded as high as $129.70 and last traded at $128.69, with a volume of 737496 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $123.65.

WFRD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Weatherford International from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday. TheStreet upgraded Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America increased their price target on Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Weatherford International from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $143.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total value of $1,163,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,241,440.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Weatherford International news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total transaction of $1,163,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,241,440.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 11,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $1,078,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 18,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,785,406.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 145,455 shares of company stock valued at $14,863,464 over the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Weatherford International by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,254,000 after purchasing an additional 120,401 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,282,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,127,000 after buying an additional 76,872 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,646,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,742,000 after buying an additional 76,058 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,340,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,097,000 after buying an additional 65,935 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,284,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,675,000 after buying an additional 191,855 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Weatherford International Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $113.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 52.88% and a net margin of 8.61%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Weatherford International’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.