Diversified Trust Co. Buys 7,902 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Diversified Trust Co. lifted its position in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 105.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,361 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,902 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co.’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $1,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Weatherford International in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 69.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped 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. Wall Street Zen raised Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of Weatherford International 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Weatherford International stock opened at $95.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.19. The stock has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 0.78. Weatherford International PLC has a fifty-two week low of $36.74 and a fifty-two week high of $110.57.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released 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. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This is a boost from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is 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.