JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 32,737 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its stake in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 234,367 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,737 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.32% of Weatherford International worth $16,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WFRD. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Weatherford International by 132.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 728,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,166,000 after acquiring an additional 414,528 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company's stock valued at $551,760,000 after purchasing an additional 270,775 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP purchased a new stake in Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth $17,703,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Weatherford International by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 917,530 shares of the company's stock worth $65,723,000 after purchasing an additional 204,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Weatherford International by 63.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 461,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,007,000 after buying an additional 179,064 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $97.00 to $73.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on 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 reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.75.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In other news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at $8,272,507.23. The trade was a 26.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $675,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 21,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,423,835.04. This represents a 32.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 87,930 shares of company stock valued at $5,861,718. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of WFRD stock traded up $1.76 on Thursday, hitting $46.05. 183,799 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,076,718. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.86, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.31. Weatherford International plc has a 52 week low of $36.74 and a 52 week high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.88%.

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.