Clearbridge Investments LLC Increases Stock Position in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 28.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 638,395 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 140,040 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.89% of Weatherford International worth $49,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 270.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 19,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 14,505 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 80.0% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 785,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,774,000 after buying an additional 349,214 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 9.9% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 822,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,257,000 after buying an additional 74,155 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted 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 worth $42,092,000 after buying an additional 234,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Weatherford International during the third quarter worth $3,367,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Price Performance

WFRD stock opened at $103.00 on Tuesday. Weatherford International PLC has a 1 year low of $46.20 and a 1 year high of $113.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, 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 $103.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.51.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 9.49%.The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WFRD. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $134.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.67.

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.