Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock Price Up 8.5% - What's Next?

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) rose 8.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $47.58 and last traded at $47.57. Approximately 423,934 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,446,348 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WFRD. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $85.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James downgraded 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 research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.63.

Weatherford International Stock Up 0.5%

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 company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.20.

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

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, Director Neal P. Goldman bought 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $42.04 per share, for a total transaction of $504,480.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 25,311 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,074.44. This trade represents a 90.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WFRD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Weatherford International by 4.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,050,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $431,104,000 after purchasing an additional 347,584 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake 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 valued at $425,894,000 after purchasing an additional 4,443,823 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Weatherford International by 7.3% during 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 increased its stake in Weatherford International by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,638,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $260,657,000 after purchasing an additional 65,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 144,396 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

About Weatherford International

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.