Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stock Position in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 75,205 shares of the company’s stock after selling 805 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $2,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sienna Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the second quarter valued at about $9,449,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Baker Hughes by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 83,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,914,000 after purchasing an additional 6,496 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Baker Hughes by 225.0% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 50,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 34,728 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the second quarter worth $830,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 20.1% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 56,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,985,000 after buying an additional 9,456 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BKR. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Baker Hughes from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.19.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKR opened at $36.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.38. Baker Hughes has a twelve month low of $28.32 and a twelve month high of $39.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.08. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. Baker Hughes’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Baker Hughes will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.93%.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In other Baker Hughes news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.55, for a total value of $4,405,725.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 616,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,759,868.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes Company provides a portfolio of technologies and services to energy and industrial value chain worldwide. The company operates through Oilfield Services & Equipment (OFSE) and Industrial & Energy Technology (IET) segments. The OFSE segment designs and manufactures products and provides related services, including exploration, appraisal, development, production, rejuvenation, and decommissioning for onshore and offshore oilfield operations.