Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 50,869 Shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P reduced its stake in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,006,593 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,869 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $72,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the third quarter valued at approximately $571,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the fourth quarter valued at about $546,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 154.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 38,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,813,000 after acquiring an additional 23,685 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in Weatherford International by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 500,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,815,000 after acquiring an additional 43,182 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Weatherford International by 59.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after purchasing an additional 11,680 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFRD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $2,944,895.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,272,507.23. This represents a 26.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.66, for a total transaction of $346,006.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,179.94. This trade represents a 30.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Weatherford International Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $56.01 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.38. Weatherford International plc has a 12 month low of $51.24 and a 12 month high of $135.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.61.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.88%.

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.