Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Grows Holdings in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in Weatherford by 50.5%, buying an additional 15,212 shares to hold 45,352 shares (about $3.55M), and institutional investors now own 97.23% of the company.
• Weatherford beat quarterly estimates with EPS $1.49 versus $1.02 and revenue $1.15B; the stock trades with a $7.88B market cap, P/E of 17.13 and a 52-week range of $42.57–$112.31.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275 (annualized $1.10, ~1.0% yield) payable June 4 with an ex‑dividend/record date of May 6, while CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares for about $10.55M and insiders own 2.09%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 50.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,352 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,212 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.06% of Weatherford International worth $3,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WFRD. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in Weatherford International by 712.8% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company's stock worth $82,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443,512 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Weatherford International by 154.3% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,159,192 shares of the company's stock worth $79,324,000 after purchasing an additional 703,401 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Weatherford International by 1,084.6% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 686,010 shares of the company's stock worth $34,513,000 after purchasing an additional 628,100 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Weatherford International by 103.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,165,753 shares of the company's stock worth $79,772,000 after purchasing an additional 591,694 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Weatherford International by 196.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 825,874 shares of the company's stock worth $41,343,000 after purchasing an additional 547,044 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $109.49 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.31. The company has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.25. Weatherford International PLC has a fifty-two week low of $42.57 and a fifty-two week high of $112.31.

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

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

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 $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 6th. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WFRD shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Weatherford International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research lowered Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays cut their price target on Weatherford International from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Weatherford International from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.22.

Weatherford International Company 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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