Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Shares Up 2.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) shares traded up 2.2% on Tuesday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $115.00 to $155.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Weatherford International traded as high as $121.07 and last traded at $120.99. 58,025 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 822,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.33.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a "c" rating to a "b" rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $121.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.58, for a total transaction of $1,170,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,801 shares in the company, valued at $2,420,081.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Weatherford International news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.58, for a total transaction of $1,170,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,801 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,420,081.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 11,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $1,078,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 18,211 shares in the company, valued at $1,785,406.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,455 shares of company stock worth $13,628,764 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the second quarter worth $25,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 189.0% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the first quarter worth $28,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Trading Up 4.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm's 50 day moving average is $104.89 and its 200 day moving average is $97.26. The company has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.82 and a beta of 0.73.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.48. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 56.68%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Company 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.