Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) Shares Purchased by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC significantly increased its stake in Baker Hughes Company by 646% during the first quarter, owning 124,646 shares valued at approximately $5.48 million.
• Baker Hughes reported earnings of $0.63 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.55, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 3.2%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, translating to an annual yield of 2.01%, with a payout ratio of 30.07%.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 646.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,646 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 107,937 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $5,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 2.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 621,468 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,314,000 after purchasing an additional 17,035 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 51.9% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 24,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 8,351 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,543,925 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,004,212,000 after purchasing an additional 465,832 shares during the last quarter. Stack Financial Management Inc purchased a new position in Baker Hughes during the first quarter worth $12,890,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,239,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,462,000 after acquiring an additional 82,706 shares during the period. 92.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Baker Hughes news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 526,568 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.42, for a total value of $23,390,150.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 667,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,654,481.06. The trade was a 44.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Baker Hughes Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ BKR traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.05. 5,858,210 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,074,655. Baker Hughes Company has a 52 week low of $32.25 and a 52 week high of $49.40. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $38.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.95. The company has a market cap of $45.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.08. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 11.04%. The company had revenue of $6.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. Baker Hughes's payout ratio is 30.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BKR. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Securities cut their price objective on Baker Hughes from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Baker Hughes from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Baker Hughes from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.50.

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.