Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 26,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,239,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 364.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 31.0% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WFRD. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.50.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In related news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $521,565.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $932,764.80. This represents a 35.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of WFRD opened at $71.62 on Wednesday. Weatherford International plc has a twelve month low of $71.13 and a twelve month high of $135.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.68.

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

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid 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 1.40%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

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.