Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 100,723 Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 100,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,215,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,573,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,419,000 after acquiring an additional 959,783 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Weatherford International by 132.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 728,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,166,000 after purchasing an additional 414,528 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Weatherford International by 402.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 324,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,555,000 after purchasing an additional 259,924 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Weatherford International by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 917,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,723,000 after purchasing an additional 204,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Weatherford International by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 461,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,007,000 after buying an additional 179,064 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $2,944,895.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,272,507.23. This trade represents a 26.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,899 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,361.49. This trade represents a 52.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Weatherford International Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of WFRD stock opened at $52.23 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.74 and a 200 day moving average of $76.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Weatherford International plc has a 1-year low of $51.24 and a 1-year high of $135.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 7.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.61.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WFRD. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.63.

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.