Piper Sandler Cuts Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Price Target to $82.00

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its price target trimmed by Piper Sandler from $87.00 to $82.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

WFRD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $147.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.25.

Weatherford International Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $67.90 on Monday. Weatherford International has a one year low of $60.45 and a one year high of $135.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.80. The company has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.52.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. Equities analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 14.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total value of $1,311,381.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,361.49. This represents a 52.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total transaction of $2,944,895.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,272,507.23. This trade represents a 26.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 130.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 364.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Weatherford International Company Profile

Weatherford International plc, an energy services company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil, geothermal, and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Drilling and Evaluation; Well Construction and Completions; and Production and Intervention.