Wall Street Zen Downgrades Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) from a "buy" to a "hold" rating in the latest research note.
• Weatherford beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.49 vs. $1.02) on $1.15 billion in revenue, the stock opened at $109.49 with a 12‑month range of $42.57–$112.31, and analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $103.22.
• CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares at about $105.50 (~$10.55M); insiders own 2.09% of the company while institutional investors hold roughly 97.23%.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

WFRD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Weatherford International from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research cut Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.22.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD opened at $109.49 on Friday. Weatherford International has a 12-month low of $42.57 and a 12-month high of $112.31. The stock has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $97.88 and a 200-day moving average of $86.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.47. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 9.49%.The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total transaction of $10,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,673,603 shares of the company's stock worth $388,245,000 after purchasing an additional 98,663 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,156,773 shares of the company's stock worth $403,571,000 after purchasing an additional 281,984 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Weatherford International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,928,226 shares of the company's stock worth $150,903,000 after acquiring an additional 66,553 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in Weatherford International by 712.8% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company's stock worth $82,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,512 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Weatherford International by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,572,422 shares of the company's stock worth $107,601,000 after acquiring an additional 476,575 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Weatherford International

Weatherford International NASDAQ: WFRD is a global oilfield services company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of equipment and technologies for oil and natural gas drilling, evaluation, completion and production. The company’s core offerings include well construction services such as directional drilling and wellbore positioning, well completion solutions that encompass sand control and zonal isolation technologies, and production enhancement services involving artificial lift systems and well intervention tools.

In addition to its comprehensive service lines, Weatherford provides a range of drilling optimization and reservoir evaluation products.

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