Empirical Finance LLC Sells 1,717 Shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Empirical Finance LLC lessened its holdings in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 30,175 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,717 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter worth about $551,555,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 32.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,364,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,729,000 after buying an additional 4,207,973 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the first quarter valued at approximately $117,083,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,635,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Baker Hughes by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,669,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395,083 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $4,000,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,053 shares in the company, valued at $17,571,855. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of BKR opened at $35.17 on Friday. Baker Hughes has a 52 week low of $28.32 and a 52 week high of $39.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $35.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.16.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.81 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Baker Hughes will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.38.

About Baker Hughes

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.