Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Lowers Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P trimmed its stake in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,006,593 shares of the company's stock after selling 50,869 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 1.39% of Weatherford International worth $72,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Zions Bancorporation N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 105.4% in the fourth quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 33,781 shares of the company's stock worth $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 17,332 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Weatherford International by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company's stock valued at $551,760,000 after acquiring an additional 270,775 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,067,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 95,587 shares of the company's stock worth $6,847,000 after purchasing an additional 4,325 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.75.

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Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of WFRD traded up $0.27 on Monday, reaching $53.37. 218,759 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,022,560. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $62.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 7.92, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.61. Weatherford International plc has a 52-week low of $51.24 and a 52-week high of $135.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 9.18%. On average, analysts forecast that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $2,944,895.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at $8,272,507.23. This trade represents a 26.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.66, for a total value of $346,006.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,179.94. This represents a 30.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725 over the last quarter. 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.