Venturi Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 11,606.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,873 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,857 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 551.1% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,440,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,356,000 after buying an additional 1,219,553 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 36.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,573,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,419,000 after buying an additional 959,783 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 30.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,324,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,443,000 after buying an additional 310,259 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 402.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 324,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,555,000 after buying an additional 259,924 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 917,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,723,000 after purchasing an additional 204,317 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Price Performance

WFRD stock opened at $65.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.60. Weatherford International plc has a twelve month low of $60.45 and a twelve month high of $135.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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 net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Weatherford International plc will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,179.94. This trade represents a 30.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $675,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,835.04. This represents a 32.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 92,692 shares of company stock valued at $6,207,725 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $132.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.63.

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.