Howard Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,082 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $1,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 135.9% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 670 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Baker Hughes during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 2,181.6% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 867 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 1,045.1% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 889,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 811,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 442.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Baker Hughes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Maria C. Borras sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.77, for a total value of $358,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 173,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,758,730.54. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Baker Hughes Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of BKR opened at $45.62 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.39. Baker Hughes has a one year low of $28.88 and a one year high of $49.40.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.07. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 14.58%. Equities research analysts forecast that Baker Hughes will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from Baker Hughes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.87%.

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.