Avestar Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,844 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BKR. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Baker Hughes by 93.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 19,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 9,440 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Baker Hughes by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 69,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 7,596 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Baker Hughes during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Baker Hughes by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 178,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,465,000 after purchasing an additional 20,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 107,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,883,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BKR shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Argus raised Baker Hughes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.06.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of BKR opened at $46.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Baker Hughes has a one year low of $28.66 and a one year high of $49.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.71 and a 200 day moving average of $39.78.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last released 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 return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 10.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from Baker Hughes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Baker Hughes’s payout ratio is 30.87%.

Baker Hughes 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.