Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Price Target Raised to $115.00

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its price target boosted by Citigroup from $93.00 to $115.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Weatherford International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research cut Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.25.

Weatherford International Stock Up 0.7%

WFRD stock opened at $101.42 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $87.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 0.79. Weatherford International has a fifty-two week low of $36.74 and a fifty-two week high of $106.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.19.

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

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 18.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total value of $164,465.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,739.25. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total transaction of $10,550,000.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Weatherford International by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,673,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,245,000 after acquiring an additional 98,663 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,928,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,903,000 after purchasing an additional 66,553 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,443,512 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Weatherford International by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,572,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,601,000 after buying an additional 476,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Weatherford International by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,539,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,505,000 after buying an additional 238,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

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.