Citigroup Cuts Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Price Target to $115.00

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its price target trimmed by Citigroup from $130.00 to $115.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $161.00 to $158.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $147.29.

Weatherford International Price Performance

WFRD stock opened at $81.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. Weatherford International has a one year low of $77.00 and a one year high of $135.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.05.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 46.25% and a net margin of 9.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 available through this link. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $521,565.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $932,764.80. This represents a 35.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Weatherford International in the first quarter worth $206,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Weatherford International by 107.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 12,170 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Weatherford International by 121.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 92,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,626,000 after purchasing an additional 50,409 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Weatherford International by 4.8% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Weatherford International in the first quarter worth $24,527,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.