Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases New Stake in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 140,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,966,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WFRD. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 69.8% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WFRD shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.33.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $95.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.08. Weatherford International PLC has a one year low of $36.74 and a one year high of $110.57.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.55%.

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.