Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $160.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Weatherford International traded as high as $129.70 and last traded at $128.69, with a volume of 737496 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $123.65.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on WFRD. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Weatherford International from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their target price on Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. TheStreet raised Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Weatherford International from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weatherford International news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total value of $1,163,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,241,440.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Weatherford International news, Director Benjamin Duster sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total value of $1,163,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,241,440.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 40,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $12,365,629.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,455 shares of company stock worth $13,628,764. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 189.0% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 539.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank acquired a new position in Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 145.7% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 312 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Trading Up 3.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.33 and a 200-day moving average of $100.50.

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

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.