Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 917,530 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 204,317 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 1.26% of Weatherford International worth $65,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 364.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the third quarter worth $34,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 36.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WFRD. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Weatherford International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.63.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 11,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $807,179.94. The trade was a 30.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total transaction of $1,311,381.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,899 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,361.49. This trade represents a 52.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 92,692 shares of company stock valued at $6,207,725. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD traded down $3.39 during trading on Monday, hitting $70.54. The company had a trading volume of 2,161,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,360,368. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.92. Weatherford International plc has a fifty-two week low of $60.45 and a fifty-two week high of $135.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. On average, research analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.88%.

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.