Capital Research Global Investors Lowers Holdings in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Capital Research Global Investors cut its holdings in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 28.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,066,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,606,903 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors owned 5.67% of Weatherford International worth $318,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WFRD. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 83.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Weatherford International by 69.8% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Weatherford International in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WFRD. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on Weatherford International from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Weatherford International from $134.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.67.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Weatherford International stock opened at $97.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.73. Weatherford International PLC has a 12 month low of $46.20 and a 12 month high of $113.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.29.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 6.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 17.21%.

Weatherford International 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.