Nicholas Investment Partners LP Cuts Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP cut its stake in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 25.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,653 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,605 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.11% of Weatherford International worth $5,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,760,000 after purchasing an additional 270,775 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 295.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,945,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,894,000 after buying an additional 4,443,823 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Weatherford International by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,402,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,375,000 after buying an additional 298,811 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Weatherford International by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,638,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,657,000 after acquiring an additional 65,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake 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 valued at $198,877,000 after acquiring an additional 144,396 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James lowered Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their target price on Weatherford International from $85.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Benchmark cut their price target on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.63.

Weatherford International Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $49.55 on Wednesday. Weatherford International plc has a one year low of $36.74 and a one year high of $135.00. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $47.49 and its 200-day moving average is $64.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.37, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 16.00%.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, Director Neal P. Goldman purchased 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $42.04 per share, with a total value of $504,480.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 25,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,064,074.44. The trade was a 90.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

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.