Banco Santander S.A. Boosts Stake in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 34.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,087 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,226 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 135.9% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 670 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes during the third quarter worth $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 2,181.6% during the third 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. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 1,045.1% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 889,378 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 811,711 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BKR shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Baker Hughes from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.06.

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Baker Hughes Stock Up 1.5 %

BKR traded up $0.63 on Wednesday, hitting $42.48. 7,128,810 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,300,736. The company has a market cap of $42.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.95. Baker Hughes has a twelve month low of $30.93 and a twelve month high of $49.40.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.07. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 10.70%. On average, equities analysts predict that Baker Hughes will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. This is an increase from Baker Hughes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Baker Hughes's payout ratio is 30.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Baker Hughes news, EVP Maria C. Borras sold 8,000 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 $7,758,730.54. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.