Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Given Buy Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $40.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on BKR. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a positive rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Baker Hughes from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $40.94.

Baker Hughes Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Baker Hughes stock opened at $32.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.05 and its 200 day moving average is $32.53. Baker Hughes has a twelve month low of $26.81 and a twelve month high of $37.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other Baker Hughes 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 transaction of $169,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,998 shares in the company, valued at $508,132.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.44, for a total value of $294,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $425,437.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.88, for a total transaction of $169,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $508,132.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter worth about $551,555,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,078,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,881,000 after buying an additional 2,316,638 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,816,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,729,000 after buying an additional 379,385 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,445,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,627,000 after buying an additional 745,511 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,669,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,319,000 after buying an additional 1,395,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

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.