Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 20,800 Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,967,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Weatherford International by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Weatherford International by 127.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of WFRD opened at $81.50 on Wednesday. Weatherford International PLC has a 1 year low of $49.47 and a 1 year high of $113.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.43. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.31.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.47. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 9.49%.The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Weatherford International PLC will post 6.13 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th were given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFRD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $111.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.22.

Weatherford International Company 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.