Jennison Associates LLC Has $112.44 Million Holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 30.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,324,101 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 310,259 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 1.82% of Weatherford International worth $112,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 359 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 8.2% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,585 shares of the company's stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 50.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 382 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Weatherford International by 20.7% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,063 shares of the company's stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 10.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WFRD shares. Evercore ISI decreased 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. Barclays dropped their price target on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $161.00 to $158.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Six 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, Weatherford International currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.29.

Weatherford International Price Performance

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $82.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.60. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.24. Weatherford International plc has a 52-week low of $77.00 and a 52-week high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 46.25%. Weatherford International's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

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

Weatherford International 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.