Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $160.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Weatherford International traded as high as $129.70 and last traded at $128.69, with a volume of 737496 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $123.65.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WFRD. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet raised shares of Weatherford International from a "c" rating to a "b" rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $136.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, Director Charles M. Sledge sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.47, for a total value of $1,234,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,041,049.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 40,455 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.91, for a total transaction of $4,001,404.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,365,629.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles M. Sledge sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.47, for a total value of $1,234,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,041,049.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 145,455 shares of company stock worth $14,863,464 in the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,384 shares of the company's stock valued at $703,254,000 after buying an additional 120,401 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,282,581 shares of the company's stock valued at $223,127,000 after buying an additional 76,872 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,646,650 shares of the company's stock valued at $148,742,000 after buying an additional 76,058 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 5.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,340,602 shares of the company's stock worth $121,097,000 after purchasing an additional 65,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,284,626 shares of the company's stock worth $125,675,000 after purchasing an additional 191,855 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.86 and a 200-day moving average of $100.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 52.88% and a net margin of 8.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

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.