Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyWeatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD – Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.
A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WFRD. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.33.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Weatherford International
Weatherford International Trading Up 4.1%
Weatherford International stock opened at $97.03 on Tuesday. Weatherford International has a 12-month low of $36.74 and a 12-month high of $110.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.26 and a 200 day moving average of $80.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.
Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Activity at Weatherford International
In other Weatherford International news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total transaction of $10,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in Weatherford International by 20.3% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 326,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,369,000 after acquiring an additional 55,183 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Weatherford International by 270.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 19,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14,505 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 110.8% in the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 708,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,629,000 after purchasing an additional 372,192 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,014,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 303,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,792,000 after purchasing an additional 17,330 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Weatherford International
Weatherford International (NASDAQ: WFRD) is a global oilfield services company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of equipment and technologies for oil and natural gas drilling, evaluation, completion and production. The company’s core offerings include well construction services such as directional drilling and wellbore positioning, well completion solutions that encompass sand control and zonal isolation technologies, and production enhancement services involving artificial lift systems and well intervention tools.
In addition to its comprehensive service lines, Weatherford provides a range of drilling optimization and reservoir evaluation products.