Weatherford International PLC $WFRD Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in Weatherford International PLC by 4.5%, bringing its total ownership to 11.10% of the company, valued at approximately $431 million.
• Weatherford International recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, expected to yield 1.8% annually, with a low payout ratio of 15.48%.
• Weatherford's earnings per share beat analysts' expectations for the last quarter, reporting $1.87 compared to a consensus of $0.97, despite a 14.3% drop in revenue year-over-year.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,050,495 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 347,584 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.10% of Weatherford International worth $431,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WFRD. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 17.9% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 189,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,170,000 after acquiring an additional 28,848 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 190.1% in the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 46,675 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 30,585 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 107.4% in the first quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,514 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 14,764 shares during the period. Monaco Asset Management SAM purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the first quarter valued at $1,017,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 24.6% in the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 18,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $965,000 after acquiring an additional 3,561 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Weatherford International from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up previously from $69.00) on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.70.

Weatherford International Stock Up 0.1%

Weatherford International stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.36. 619,283 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 966,881. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.21. Weatherford International PLC has a 12 month low of $36.74 and a 12 month high of $111.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $54.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.73. The company has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.77.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 34.87%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.48%.

Weatherford International 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.