Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Declares $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st.

Weatherford International Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ WFRD traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $67.90. The company had a trading volume of 1,258,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,295,572. The firm's 50 day moving average is $71.36 and its 200 day moving average is $85.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Weatherford International has a fifty-two week low of $60.45 and a fifty-two week high of $135.00. The company has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WFRD shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $147.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Weatherford International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark cut their price target on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.25.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.66, for a total transaction of $346,006.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $807,179.94. This represents a 30.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at $8,272,507.23. The trade was a 26.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.