Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Buys Shares of 53,051 Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 53,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,813,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hall Laurie J Trustee purchased a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the third quarter worth $28,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 41.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.44, for a total transaction of $294,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $425,437.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 10,000 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $425,437.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.88, for a total value of $169,400.00. Following the transaction, 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. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Baker Hughes from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen increased 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on Baker Hughes from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Monday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Baker Hughes has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.87.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Baker Hughes stock traded down $0.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $32.45. The company had a trading volume of 7,341,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,949,476. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $31.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.62. 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 has a 1-year low of $26.81 and a 1-year high of $37.58.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 7.62%. Baker Hughes's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.07 earnings per share 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 issued 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 yield of 2.59%. This is a positive change from Baker Hughes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Baker Hughes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.