Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases 70,257 Shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 527,145 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,257 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $18,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its holdings in Baker Hughes by 0.5% during the third quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 55,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC grew its position in Baker Hughes by 44.0% in the third quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 1,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in Baker Hughes by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 6,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 8.2% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 5,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. 92.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Baker Hughes from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Baker Hughes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.07.

Baker Hughes Stock Up 0.2 %

BKR stock opened at $32.54 on Tuesday. Baker Hughes has a 52-week low of $26.81 and a 52-week high of $37.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.42.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 7.62% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Baker Hughes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.98%.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In related news, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.88, for a total transaction of $169,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $508,132.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.88, for a total value of $169,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $508,132.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.44, for a total transaction of $294,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,437.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.