Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 90,416 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 371,374 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90,416 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.51% of Weatherford International worth $26,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 4th quarter worth $65,678,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 132.1% during 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Weatherford International by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,760,000 after buying an additional 270,775 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth about $17,703,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 506,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,266,000 after buying an additional 227,342 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFRD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James decreased 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other news, EVP Depinder Sandhu sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.41, for a total value of $929,740.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $590,517.72. This represents a 61.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $675,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,835.04. This trade represents a 32.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,930 shares of company stock worth $5,861,718 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Down 12.4 %

Shares of WFRD opened at $39.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.70. Weatherford International plc has a 1 year low of $36.99 and a 1 year high of $135.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.28.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is currently 14.88%.

About Weatherford International

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.