Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Shares Purchased by Royce & Associates LP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Weatherford International PLC by 33.4%, bringing its ownership to 133,907 shares valued at approximately $7.17 million.
• Weatherford recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, representing a yield of 1.76% based on an annualized dividend of $1.00.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Weatherford's stock, with price targets ranging from $62.00 to $96.25, indicating various levels of confidence in the company's performance.

Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 33.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,907 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 33,540 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.18% of Weatherford International worth $7,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Weatherford International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company's stock worth $551,760,000 after purchasing an additional 270,775 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Weatherford International by 295.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,945,755 shares of the company's stock worth $425,894,000 after purchasing an additional 4,443,823 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Weatherford International by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,402,833 shares of the company's stock worth $315,375,000 after purchasing an additional 298,811 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Weatherford International by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,638,934 shares of the company's stock worth $260,657,000 after purchasing an additional 65,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. purchased a new stake in Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth about $104,287,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFRD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up previously from $69.00) on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler upgraded Weatherford International from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.63.

Weatherford International Trading Down 1.4%

WFRD traded down $0.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 155,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,366,467. The firm has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.76. Weatherford International PLC has a 52-week low of $36.74 and a 52-week high of $118.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.09.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 34.87% and a net margin of 9.35%. The company's revenue was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.48%.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.