Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Buys 11,869 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,195 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,869 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.07% of Weatherford International worth $4,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Weatherford International by 31.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 359 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Weatherford International by 50.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 382 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Weatherford International by 20.7% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,063 shares of the company's stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Weatherford International by 10.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,945 shares of the company's stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 949 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFRD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $147.29.

Weatherford International Trading Down 6.2 %

NASDAQ WFRD traded down $5.14 on Friday, hitting $77.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 700,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 722,105. The company's 50-day moving average is $85.24 and its 200 day moving average is $101.98. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.58. Weatherford International plc has a 1-year low of $76.84 and a 1-year high of $135.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

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

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company 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.