California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 15,294 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its Weatherford International stake by 22.4% to 83,567 shares, worth approximately $7.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 97.23% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus, with eight Buy ratings and three Holds and an average price target of $113.56. UBS upgraded the stock to Buy, while Barclays trimmed its target to $151.
• Weatherford reported quarterly EPS of $0.55, below the $0.90 consensus, although revenue of $1.10 billion exceeded estimates. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, representing a 1.2% annualized yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 22.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,567 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 15,294 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.12% of Weatherford International worth $7,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Weatherford International by 223.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 122,662 shares of the company's stock worth $6,568,000 after acquiring an additional 84,684 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 129.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 143,703 shares of the company's stock worth $7,695,000 after purchasing an additional 81,046 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Weatherford International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $258,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,764 shares of the company's stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 83.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $113.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $113.56.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Weatherford International stock opened at $89.42 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.87. Weatherford International PLC has a 12-month low of $52.70 and a 12-month high of $113.15. The business's 50-day moving average price is $89.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.80.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.35). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 7.66%.The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Weatherford International's revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In related news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 $963,088.83. This represents a 34.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $1,357,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,033,945.08. The trade was a 56.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Weatherford International Profile

Weatherford International NASDAQ: WFRD is a global oilfield services company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of equipment and technologies for oil and natural gas drilling, evaluation, completion and production. The company’s core offerings include well construction services such as directional drilling and wellbore positioning, well completion solutions that encompass sand control and zonal isolation technologies, and production enhancement services involving artificial lift systems and well intervention tools.

In addition to its comprehensive service lines, Weatherford provides a range of drilling optimization and reservoir evaluation products.

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