Piper Sandler Raises Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Price Target to $184.00

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its price target increased by Piper Sandler from $180.00 to $184.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Weatherford International from a c rating to a b rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays started coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. They issued an overweight rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $136.89.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD traded up $3.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $126.68. 250,078 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 822,398. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average is $113.33 and its 200 day moving average is $100.50. Weatherford International has a 52 week low of $55.81 and a 52 week high of $127.45.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 52.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In other news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 40,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.91, for a total value of $4,001,404.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,365,629.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 40,455 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.91, for a total value of $4,001,404.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,365,629.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Girish Saligram sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.57, for a total value of $6,214,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 146,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,213,915.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,455 shares of company stock worth $13,628,764 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the first quarter worth $1,587,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 0.4% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,653,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 2.5% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 20,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Weatherford International by 14.5% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 77,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,916,000 after buying an additional 9,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC grew its position in Weatherford International by 6.3% during the first quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 4,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.