Rhumbline Advisers Has $14.96 Million Stock Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 208,837 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,589 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.29% of Weatherford International worth $14,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 36.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,573,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,419,000 after buying an additional 959,783 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Weatherford International by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,267,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,555,000 after buying an additional 68,553 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Weatherford International by 551.1% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,440,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,356,000 after buying an additional 1,219,553 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 30.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,324,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,443,000 after buying an additional 310,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Weatherford International by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 917,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,723,000 after buying an additional 204,317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total value of $1,311,381.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,361.49. The trade was a 52.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total transaction of $2,944,895.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,272,507.23. This represents a 26.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 92,692 shares of company stock valued at $6,207,725. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $65.48 on Friday. Weatherford International plc has a twelve month low of $60.45 and a twelve month high of $135.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.12. The company has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.88%.

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.