Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Rating Reiterated by Benchmark

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Benchmark in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $155.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 25.56% from the company’s current price.

WFRD has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $138.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $131.00.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of WFRD traded up $5.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $123.45. 724,501 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 818,892. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $112.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.16. The company has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Weatherford International has a 1 year low of $55.81 and a 1 year high of $127.45.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 56.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $1,078,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 18,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,785,406.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $1,078,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 18,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,785,406.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.58, for a total transaction of $1,170,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,420,081.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,455 shares of company stock valued at $13,628,764. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WFRD. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in Weatherford International in the third quarter worth about $114,430,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth about $89,762,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 1,261.1% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 381,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,425,000 after buying an additional 353,100 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 101.1% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 656,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,309,000 after buying an additional 330,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 1,564.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 281,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,398,000 after purchasing an additional 264,284 shares during the last quarter. 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.