Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires New Position in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 719,192 shares of the company's stock worth $51,516,000 after purchasing an additional 109,783 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 8,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 132.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 728,266 shares of the company's stock worth $52,166,000 after purchasing an additional 414,528 shares during the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 70,455 shares of the company's stock worth $5,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth $7,215,000. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Neal P. Goldman acquired 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $42.04 per share, with a total value of $504,480.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 25,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,064,074.44. The trade was a 90.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WFRD. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $85.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.63.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of Weatherford International stock traded down $1.15 on Friday, reaching $54.18. 715,937 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,181,262. Weatherford International PLC has a 1-year low of $36.74 and a 1-year high of $135.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.21 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 35.88% and a net margin of 8.79%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Weatherford International's payout ratio is 16.00%.

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.