Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock Price Target Lowered at Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup lowered Weatherford International’s price target to $112 from $115 while maintaining a “buy” rating, implying 45.28% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $115.29, although several firms recently reduced their targets.
• Weatherford shares traded at $77.09, well below their 52-week high of $113.15. The company’s latest quarterly EPS of $0.55 missed the $0.90 consensus estimate, while revenue of $1.10 billion exceeded expectations.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by analysts at Citigroup from $115.00 to $112.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price target points to a potential upside of 45.28% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $120.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $106.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $118.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.29.

Weatherford International Price Performance

WFRD stock traded up $0.90 during trading on Monday, hitting $77.09. The company had a trading volume of 631,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,225,104. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $86.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.61. Weatherford International has a fifty-two week low of $62.84 and a fifty-two week high of $113.15. The company has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 7.66%. The business's revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Benjamin Duster, IV sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.09, for a total transaction of $516,540.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $963,088.83. This represents a 34.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jacqueline Mutschler sold 4,094 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total value of $370,507.00. Following the sale, the director owned 29,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,632,916.50. The trade was a 12.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,094 shares of company stock valued at $2,244,487. 2.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the first quarter worth $50,052,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 12.4% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,760,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $166,505,000 after acquiring an additional 194,654 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the second quarter valued at $15,269,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 15.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 794,732 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,166,000 after acquiring an additional 106,716 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 193.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 149,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,181,000 after acquiring an additional 98,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Weatherford International Company Profile

Weatherford International plc is an energy services company that provides equipment, technology and services to the oil and natural gas industry. Its offerings support the life cycle of a well, from drilling and formation evaluation to completion, production, intervention and abandonment.

The company's product and service portfolio includes drilling systems, well logging and evaluation tools, completion equipment, artificial-lift systems, production optimization technologies, well intervention services and digital solutions.

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