Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock Price Down 4.3% - What's Next?

Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) were down 4.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $78.36 and last traded at $79.15. Approximately 166,596 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 900,266 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WFRD shares. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Weatherford International presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $147.29.

Weatherford International Trading Down 6.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $85.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.98.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 46.25%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Weatherford International plc will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. Weatherford International's payout ratio is 14.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $521,565.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at $932,764.80. The trade was a 35.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Weatherford International by 94.2% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 175,369 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,892,000 after purchasing an additional 85,080 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Weatherford International by 63.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 461,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,007,000 after purchasing an additional 179,064 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Weatherford International by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter valued at $571,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 131.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 13,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,169,000 after buying an additional 7,823 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Company 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.