Stephens Inc. AR Trims Stock Position in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Stephens Inc. AR lessened its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) by 49.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,176 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,963 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 44,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 13,933 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Baker Hughes by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after buying an additional 3,227 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Baker Hughes by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 110,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,516,000 after buying an additional 2,685 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter valued at $640,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Baker Hughes by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 20,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other news, EVP Maria C. Borras sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.77, for a total value of $358,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 173,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,758,730.54. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

BKR opened at $46.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.39. Baker Hughes has a twelve month low of $28.66 and a twelve month high of $49.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.07. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 14.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Baker Hughes will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. This is a positive change from Baker Hughes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. Baker Hughes’s payout ratio is presently 28.19%.

Baker Hughes Company Profile

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.