Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Stock Position in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 496,223 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 48,550 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $20,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BKR. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 446,900.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 4,469 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 11.4% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 33,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,475 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 13.0% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 134,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,871,000 after acquiring an additional 15,477 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 3.1% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 30,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 20.4% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 15,172 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Baker Hughes stock opened at $44.69 on Friday. Baker Hughes has a 12-month low of $30.93 and a 12-month high of $49.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $44.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.26.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.07. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 14.58%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from Baker Hughes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other news, EVP Maria C. Borras sold 8,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $358,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 173,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,758,730.54. This trade represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BKR. Evercore ISI increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.06.

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.