Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Trims Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its holdings in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 23.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,661,356 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,750,599 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 7.79% of Weatherford International worth $405,525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 17,072 shares of the company's stock worth $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 31,730 shares of the company's stock worth $2,273,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 130.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 926 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in Weatherford International by 190.4% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 392 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD stock traded down $1.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.61. 459,880 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,121,164. Weatherford International plc has a 1-year low of $36.74 and a 1-year high of $135.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $50.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.24, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.70.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.21 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 9.18%. On average, analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WFRD. Raymond James lowered shares of Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $85.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Neal P. Goldman acquired 12,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $42.04 per share, for a total transaction of $504,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,311 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,074.44. This represents a 90.15 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total value of $1,311,381.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,208,361.49. The trade was a 52.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,425 shares of company stock worth $2,916,822 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

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.