Palouse Capital Management Inc. Has $4.03 Million Stake in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 117,926 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,428 shares during the period. Baker Hughes accounts for about 2.9% of Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $4,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 0.5% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,473,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,947,274,000 after buying an additional 365,013 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 2.4% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,391,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,984,000 after buying an additional 495,677 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 16.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 4.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 8.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BKR shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research downgraded Baker Hughes from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on Baker Hughes from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.87.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKR traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,513,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,803,396. Baker Hughes has a 1 year low of $26.81 and a 1 year high of $37.58. 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 stock has a market cap of $32.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.58.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 7.62% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. This is an increase from Baker Hughes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is 43.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $508,132.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $508,132.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.44, for a total transaction of $294,400.00. Following 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. Insiders own 0.25% 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.