Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) CFO Arunava Mitra Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $675,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,835.04. This represents a 32.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of WFRD opened at $67.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. Weatherford International plc has a 52-week low of $60.45 and a 52-week high of $135.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $71.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.80.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 6.14 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. FMR LLC grew its stake in Weatherford International by 36.7% in the third 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 period. State Street Corp grew its position in Weatherford International by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,267,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,555,000 after purchasing an additional 68,553 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Weatherford International by 551.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,440,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,553 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Weatherford International by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,324,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,443,000 after purchasing an additional 310,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 917,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,723,000 after buying an additional 204,317 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFRD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup cut their price target on Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.25.

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.