Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $98.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $132.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $140.50.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $76.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.22 and a 200-day moving average of $100.61. Weatherford International has a 12 month low of $75.79 and a 12 month high of $135.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.58.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 46.25% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $932,764.80. This represents a 35.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,573,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,419,000 after purchasing an additional 959,783 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Weatherford International by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,267,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,555,000 after buying an additional 68,553 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Weatherford International by 551.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,440,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,553 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,324,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,443,000 after acquiring an additional 310,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 657,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,566,000 after acquiring an additional 38,700 shares during the last quarter. 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.