Weatherford International PLC $WFRD Shares Sold by Atlantic Investment Management Inc.

Atlantic Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 36.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 229,988 shares of the company’s stock after selling 130,578 shares during the period. Weatherford International comprises approximately 10.1% of Atlantic Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Atlantic Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $17,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth $624,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $869,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth about $3,829,000. Amundi purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth about $778,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth about $474,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Weatherford International from $134.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.67.

Weatherford International Price Performance

NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $94.15 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.83. Weatherford International PLC has a 12 month low of $46.20 and a 12 month high of $113.15. The firm has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 9.49%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Weatherford International PLC will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.21%.

Weatherford International Profile

Weatherford International (NASDAQ: WFRD) is a global oilfield services company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of equipment and technologies for oil and natural gas drilling, evaluation, completion and production. The company’s core offerings include well construction services such as directional drilling and wellbore positioning, well completion solutions that encompass sand control and zonal isolation technologies, and production enhancement services involving artificial lift systems and well intervention tools.

In addition to its comprehensive service lines, Weatherford provides a range of drilling optimization and reservoir evaluation products.