Millennium Management LLC Buys 894,636 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 429.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,103,067 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 894,636 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 1.52% of Weatherford International worth $59,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WFRD. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Weatherford International by 546.7% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 595 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in Weatherford International by 30,600.0% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 614 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Weatherford International by 55.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 645 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in Weatherford International by 188.6% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,036 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WFRD. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price target on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up from $69.00) on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.70.

Weatherford International Price Performance

WFRD traded down $0.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.30. 621,865 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 781,161. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $36.74 and a twelve month high of $98.21. The company has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.03.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. Weatherford International's payout ratio is currently 15.48%.

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.