SCP Investment LP Has $203,000 Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

SCP Investment LP cut its holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 75.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,830 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,850 shares during the quarter. SCP Investment LP’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,760,000 after acquiring an additional 270,775 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Weatherford International by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,573,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,419,000 after acquiring an additional 959,783 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,777,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,877,000 after purchasing an additional 144,396 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,267,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,555,000 after acquiring an additional 68,553 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 917,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,723,000 after acquiring an additional 204,317 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFRD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James decreased their price target 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.63.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other 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 transaction of $2,944,895.85. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.66, for a total transaction of $346,006.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Down 2.9 %

WFRD opened at $53.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.88. Weatherford International plc has a twelve month low of $51.24 and a twelve month high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 9.18%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. 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.