Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Given New $115.00 Price Target at Citigroup

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

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

Weatherford International Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $82.98. The stock had a trading volume of 165,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 914,527. Weatherford International has a fifty-two week low of $77.00 and a fifty-two week high of $135.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.50.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.41. The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $521,565.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares in the company, valued at $932,764.80. This represents a 35.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total transaction of $639,397.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Weatherford International by 31.0% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Weatherford International by 50.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 382 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 23.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 20.7% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.