Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 10,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Baker Hughes during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 59.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 191,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,742,000 after acquiring an additional 71,558 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 106,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,737,000 after acquiring an additional 7,394 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,424,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,523,000 after acquiring an additional 455,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 121.4% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 250,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,210,000 after purchasing an additional 137,175 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BKR. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Baker Hughes from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Baker Hughes from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.06.

Baker Hughes Trading Down 0.3 %

BKR stock opened at $45.66 on Friday. Baker Hughes has a 12 month low of $28.32 and a 12 month high of $47.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.91 and its 200 day moving average is $38.61. The company has a market capitalization of $45.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.06. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 13.77%. The business had revenue of $6.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.29 EPS for the current year.

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.