Weatherford International PLC $WFRD Shares Acquired by Royal Bank of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its Weatherford International stake by 43.8% in the first quarter to 60,324 shares, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 97.23% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with eight Buy ratings and three Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $113.56. Recent target changes were mixed, including UBS upgrading the stock to Buy.
• Weatherford reported quarterly EPS of $0.55, below the $0.90 consensus estimate, while revenue of $1.10 billion exceeded expectations but declined 8.2% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, equal to a 1.2% annualized yield.

Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 43.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,324 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,384 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.08% of Weatherford International worth $5,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 129.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 143,703 shares of the company's stock worth $7,695,000 after purchasing an additional 81,046 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the first quarter valued at about $258,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 26.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,764 shares of the company's stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 83.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Weatherford International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,370,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFRD has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded Weatherford International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $113.00 to $114.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research lowered Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $113.56.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, Director Jacqueline C. Mutschler sold 4,094 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total transaction of $370,507.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 29,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,632,916.50. This represents a 12.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Neal P. Goldman sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $1,357,440.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,187 shares in the company, valued at $1,033,945.08. This represents a 56.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 26,094 shares of company stock worth $2,244,487 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.07% of the company's stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $92.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $54.69 and a twelve month high of $113.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.02.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.35). Weatherford International had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 21.50%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio is 21.70%.

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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