Weatherford International PLC $WFRD Position Trimmed by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in Weatherford International PLC by 21.1% in Q1, owning approximately 6.15% of the company after selling over 1.1 million shares.
• Weatherford International recently reported earnings of $1.87 per share, significantly exceeding expectations, with quarterly revenue of $1.20 billion, though down 14.3% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25, with a yield of 1.6% and plans to distribute it on September 4th to shareholders recorded by August 6th.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its holdings in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,464,257 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,197,099 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 6.15% of Weatherford International worth $239,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Weatherford International by 546.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 595 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in Weatherford International by 30,600.0% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 614 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 55.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 645 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 1,002.0% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 1st quarter valued at about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Weatherford International Stock Up 6.1%

WFRD opened at $60.83 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $54.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.56. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $36.74 and a twelve month high of $111.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.21. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. Weatherford International's payout ratio is 15.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $69.00) on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Melius assumed coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced 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. Citigroup reduced 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, Piper Sandler upgraded Weatherford International from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, July 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.70.

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.

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