Man Group plc Boosts Stock Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Man Group plc grew its stake in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 91.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,541 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,126 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc's holdings in Weatherford International were worth $2,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Weatherford International by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 17,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,223,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 31,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,273,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 130.8% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Weatherford International by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 926 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 190.4% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 392 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WFRD shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $85.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Benchmark cut their target price on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered shares of Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.63.

Weatherford International Trading Down 0.7%

WFRD stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.33. 211,335 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,160,271. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.21 and a 200-day moving average of $61.97. Weatherford International plc has a 1 year low of $36.74 and a 1 year high of $135.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 6.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.73.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.14. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 9.18%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.00%.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, Director Neal P. Goldman purchased 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $42.04 per share, for a total transaction of $504,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,064,074.44. This trade represents a 90.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

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.