Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Given New $115.00 Price Target at Piper Sandler

Key Points

• Piper Sandler raised its price target on Weatherford to $115 and kept an "overweight" rating, implying roughly a 15.6% upside from the prior close.
• Weatherford beat Q4 expectations with $1.91 EPS vs. $1.42 estimated and $1.29B revenue (vs. $1.26B), reporting a net margin of 8.76% and ROE of 28.07%.
• CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares at about $105.50 (≈$10.55M), while institutional investors own roughly 97.23% of the stock.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Piper Sandler's price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.63% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research upgraded Weatherford International from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.00.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WFRD traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $99.46. The stock had a trading volume of 359,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,331,357. Weatherford International has a 1-year low of $40.12 and a 1-year high of $110.57. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $97.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.83.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The business's revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 281,984 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,928,226 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,903,000 after buying an additional 66,553 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 712.8% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Weatherford International by 43.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,572,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,601,000 after acquiring an additional 476,575 shares during the period. 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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