Empowered Funds LLC Sells 22,729 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its stake in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,553 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,729 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.10% of Weatherford International worth $5,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WFRD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,599,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $877,152,000 after purchasing an additional 53,017 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 2.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,409,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,730,000 after purchasing an additional 182,120 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 19.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,722,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,240,000 after purchasing an additional 439,700 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 6.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 657,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,566,000 after purchasing an additional 38,700 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 33.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 631,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,372,000 after purchasing an additional 156,756 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In related news, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total transaction of $639,397.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $521,565.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares in the company, valued at $932,764.80. The trade was a 35.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of Weatherford International stock opened at $81.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.05. Weatherford International plc has a fifty-two week low of $77.00 and a fifty-two week high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 46.25%. Weatherford International’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Weatherford International plc will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI cut 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 note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $161.00 to $158.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays cut 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 note on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.29.

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.