Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Makes New Investment in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $518,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,254,000 after buying an additional 120,401 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,282,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,127,000 after purchasing an additional 76,872 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,340,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,097,000 after purchasing an additional 65,935 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 191,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $114,430,000. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles M. Sledge sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.47, for a total transaction of $1,234,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,041,049.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. TheStreet upgraded Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Citigroup began coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.11.

Weatherford International Trading Up 0.3 %

WFRD opened at $115.15 on Friday. Weatherford International plc has a fifty-two week low of $55.81 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The company has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.61.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 52.88% and a net margin of 8.61%. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current 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.