Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 140,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,813,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKR. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 0.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,473,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,947,274,000 after buying an additional 365,013 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 2.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,391,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $615,984,000 after buying an additional 495,677 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 16.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,078,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $567,881,000 after buying an additional 2,316,638 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 4.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,816,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $346,729,000 after purchasing an additional 379,385 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 8.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,445,847 shares of the company's stock valued at $333,627,000 after purchasing an additional 745,511 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of 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 decreased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Baker Hughes from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.87.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 5,000 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.88, for a total value of $169,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,998 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $508,132.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Baker Hughes news, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.44, for a total transaction of $294,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $425,437.44. 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 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.88, for a total transaction of $169,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $508,132.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKR traded down $0.94 on Friday, reaching $33.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,841,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,885,636. Baker Hughes has a 52-week low of $26.81 and a 52-week high of $37.58. The company has a market cap of $33.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. This is a positive change from Baker Hughes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Baker Hughes's payout ratio is currently 43.98%.

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.