M&T Bank Corp Purchases 11,676 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Weatherford by 179.4%, purchasing an additional 11,676 shares in Q4 to hold 18,184 shares worth about $1.42 million; institutional investors now own roughly 97.23% of the stock.
• Weatherford beat expectations for the most recent quarter with $1.49 EPS vs. $1.02 est. on $1.15 billion of revenue, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.275 (ex-dividend date May 6), a ~1.0% yield.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" (seven Buys, four Holds) and an average price target of $103.22.

M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 179.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,184 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,676 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Weatherford International were worth $1,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 20.3% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 326,892 shares of the company's stock worth $22,369,000 after purchasing an additional 55,183 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 270.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 19,860 shares of the company's stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14,505 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the third quarter worth $1,014,000. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 6.0% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 303,850 shares of the company's stock worth $20,792,000 after purchasing an additional 17,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 9.9% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 822,117 shares of the company's stock worth $56,257,000 after purchasing an additional 74,155 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Weatherford International Trading Down 2.9%

WFRD opened at $107.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.83. Weatherford International PLC has a 12 month low of $40.80 and a 12 month high of $112.31. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $97.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.47. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 28.31%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 6th. Weatherford International's payout ratio is presently 17.21%.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International 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 value of $10,550,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WFRD. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.22.

About Weatherford International

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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