Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Trims Stock Holdings in Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its position in shares of Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,057,462 shares of the company’s stock after selling 51,270 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 1.46% of Weatherford International worth $89,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $122,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,553 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 19.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,722,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,240,000 after buying an additional 439,700 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,287,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Weatherford International by 5,525.3% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 359,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,501,000 after buying an additional 353,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 310,259 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on WFRD shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $147.29.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD opened at $85.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.04. The company has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.97 and a 200-day moving average of $104.57. Weatherford International plc has a 52-week low of $77.00 and a 52-week high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.41. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 46.25% and a net margin of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Weatherford International plc will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $521,565.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $932,764.80. The trade was a 35.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total transaction of $639,397.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.