State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 13,881 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 34.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,285 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,881 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $3,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Weatherford International by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,599,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $877,152,000 after acquiring an additional 53,017 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Weatherford International by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,409,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,730,000 after acquiring an additional 182,120 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Weatherford International by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,722,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,240,000 after acquiring an additional 439,700 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Weatherford International by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,124,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,013,000 after acquiring an additional 126,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Weatherford International in the 4th quarter worth about $89,762,000. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total value of $639,397.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFRD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Weatherford International from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $161.00 to $158.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Weatherford International has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $153.88.

Weatherford International Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of WFRD stock opened at $93.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. Weatherford International plc has a 1-year low of $82.16 and a 1-year high of $135.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $109.09 and a 200 day moving average of $114.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.08). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 49.69% and a net margin of 9.19%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 6.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.18%.

Weatherford International Company 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.