Fortis Capital Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Key Points

• Fortis Capital Advisors opened a new position in Weatherford International (WFRD) in Q4, buying 11,485 shares valued at about $899,000; overall institutional ownership of the stock is 97.23%.
• Analysts give WFRD a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $102, while individual targets range from about $83 to $111 and several firms recently updated coverage.
• Weatherford reported Q results of $1.91 EPS (beats estimates) on $1.29B revenue, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.275 (annualized $1.10, ~1.1% yield), and CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares for $10.55M.

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $899,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,662 shares of the company's stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company's stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 0.9% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 21,431 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,467,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 0.7% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 33,245 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,673,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 69.8% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFRD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Weatherford International from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD opened at $100.13 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day moving average is $97.33 and its 200 day moving average is $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.83. Weatherford International PLC has a 12-month low of $40.12 and a 12-month high of $110.57.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.49. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.64 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a boost from Weatherford International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total transaction of $10,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.