Weatherford International PLC $WFRD Shares Sold by Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 71.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,292 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,054 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,443,512 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 429.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,103,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,069,000 after acquiring an additional 894,636 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 94.9% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,095,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,132,000 after purchasing an additional 533,635 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 1,005.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,056,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,148,000 after purchasing an additional 960,832 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Weatherford International by 196.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 825,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,343,000 after purchasing an additional 547,044 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFRD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Weatherford International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Weatherford International from $81.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.70.

Weatherford International Trading Up 0.6%

WFRD opened at $78.15 on Tuesday. Weatherford International PLC has a 52 week low of $36.74 and a 52 week high of $82.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.52. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.03). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.28% and a net margin of 8.15%.The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. Weatherford International’s revenue was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 6th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In related news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total transaction of $164,465.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,739.25. This represents a 11.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International 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.