Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Cut to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Weatherford International from strong-buy to hold, adding to a mixed analyst picture that still leaves the stock with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $114.
• The stock was trading around $81.81, below its recent analyst price targets and near the lower end of its 52-week range of $52.33 to $113.15.
• Weatherford recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $1.49 EPS versus $1.02 expected, while revenue came in slightly ahead of estimates at $1.15 billion.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WFRD. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $111.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.00.

Weatherford International Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $81.81 on Tuesday. Weatherford International has a 52-week low of $52.33 and a 52-week high of $113.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $96.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.31.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Weatherford International's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Weatherford International by 712.8% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,812,000 after buying an additional 1,443,512 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 1,040.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,244,464 shares of the company's stock worth $97,392,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,338 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth about $61,399,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 1,096.6% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 855,752 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,971,000 after acquiring an additional 784,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 154.3% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,159,192 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,324,000 after acquiring an additional 703,401 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company's stock.

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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