Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock Position Lessened by Voya Investment Management LLC

Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 217,883 shares of the company's stock after selling 44,722 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.30% of Weatherford International worth $15,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Weatherford International by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company's stock worth $551,760,000 after purchasing an additional 270,775 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Weatherford International by 295.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,945,755 shares of the company's stock worth $425,894,000 after purchasing an additional 4,443,823 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,402,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,375,000 after purchasing an additional 298,811 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,638,934 shares of the company's stock worth $260,657,000 after purchasing an additional 65,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,777,128 shares of the company's stock worth $198,877,000 after buying an additional 144,396 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WFRD. Raymond James cut shares of Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.75.

Weatherford International Stock Up 2.9 %

Weatherford International stock traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $42.61. 2,707,172 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,133,346. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.09. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.70. Weatherford International plc has a 1 year low of $36.74 and a 1 year high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Weatherford International news, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $675,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,835.04. The trade was a 32.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Weatherford International stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total transaction of $1,311,381.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,208,361.49. This trade represents a 52.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,425 shares of company stock worth $2,916,822. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.