Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 123,205 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its holdings in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,416,522 shares of the company’s stock after selling 123,205 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $133,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Weatherford International by 1,040.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,244,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,392,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,338 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 77.6% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 537,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,092,000 after purchasing an additional 234,989 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,615,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224 shares during the period. GeoSphere Capital Management LLC increased its position in Weatherford International by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. GeoSphere Capital Management LLC now owns 42,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,326,000 after buying an additional 17,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth about $1,692,000. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $85.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $92.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.86. Weatherford International PLC has a 12-month low of $52.70 and a 12-month high of $113.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.35). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 7.66%.The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WFRD. Weiss Ratings cut Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.44.

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.