Magnetar Financial LLC Has $1.84 Million Stock Holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Magnetar Financial LLC cut its holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 66.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 25,664 shares of the company’s stock after selling 51,167 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $1,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WFRD. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 551.1% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,440,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,356,000 after buying an additional 1,219,553 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 36.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,573,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,419,000 after buying an additional 959,783 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 132.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 728,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,166,000 after buying an additional 414,528 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 30.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,324,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,443,000 after buying an additional 310,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 402.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 324,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,555,000 after buying an additional 259,924 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WFRD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.63.

Weatherford International Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Weatherford International stock opened at $52.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 7.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.61. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $64.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.69. Weatherford International plc has a 52-week low of $51.24 and a 52-week high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 14.88%.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.66, for a total value of $346,006.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $807,179.94. This represents a 30.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $675,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,835.04. The trade was a 32.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,692 shares of company stock valued at $6,207,725. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Weatherford International Company 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.