Horizon Investments LLC Invests $1.39 Million in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Key Points

• Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake of 17,752 shares in Weatherford International (NASDAQ: WFRD) in Q4, valued at approximately $1.39 million.
• CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares on Feb. 6 at an average price of $105.50 for a total of $10.55 million; company insiders now own about 2.09% of the stock.
• Weatherford beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.49 vs. $1.02) on $1.15 billion revenue, declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275 (annualized $1.10, yield 1.0%), and holds a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $105.33 price target.

Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,752 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,389,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 69.8% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 157.3% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 705 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In other news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD stock opened at $108.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $98.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.89. Weatherford International PLC has a 1-year low of $42.58 and a 1-year high of $112.31.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 9.49%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 6th. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFRD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research cut Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Weatherford International from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $105.33.

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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