Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Price Target Lowered to $147.00 at Barclays

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its target price cut by analysts at Barclays from $154.00 to $147.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 83.43% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. Raymond James dropped their price objective 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, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $155.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.88.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of WFRD traded up $2.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $80.14. 1,057,503 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 908,075. Weatherford International has a 1-year low of $77.29 and a 1-year high of $135.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.88 and a 200-day moving average of $110.16. The stock has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.58.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 49.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total value of $639,397.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,722,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,240,000 after buying an additional 439,700 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,287,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 5,525.3% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 359,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,501,000 after purchasing an additional 353,177 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 89.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 612,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,969,000 after purchasing an additional 288,290 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,951,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

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.