Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered their target price on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.33.

Weatherford International Trading Up 6.3%

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $91.55 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Weatherford International has a 52 week low of $36.74 and a 52 week high of $110.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $94.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.27. The company has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 0.78.

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 company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total transaction of $10,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings 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 valued at $388,245,000 after acquiring an additional 98,663 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Weatherford International by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,156,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,571,000 after purchasing an additional 281,984 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Weatherford International by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,928,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,903,000 after purchasing an additional 66,553 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake 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 valued at $82,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443,512 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 43.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,572,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,601,000 after purchasing an additional 476,575 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.