Short Interest in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Increases By 21.6%

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,640,000 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the February 13th total of 16,970,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 7,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Insider Activity

In other Baker Hughes news, EVP Maria C. Borras sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.77, for a total transaction of $358,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 173,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,758,730.54. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKR. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 11.3% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 14,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 13.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 544,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,681,000 after purchasing an additional 66,444 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 90.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 447,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,183,000 after purchasing an additional 212,520 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 18.7% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 9,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 446,900.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 4,469 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BKR shares. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Atb Cap Markets lowered Baker Hughes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.06.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 2.1 %

Baker Hughes stock opened at $44.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $44.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.30. Baker Hughes has a one year low of $30.93 and a one year high of $49.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.23.

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

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. This is an increase from Baker Hughes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.87%.

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.