Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 133,008 Shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) by 451.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 162,457 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 133,008 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $6,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,142,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,864,000 after buying an additional 200,610 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter valued at $820,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 78.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter worth $2,175,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 1,324,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,315,000 after purchasing an additional 314,300 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on BKR. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Baker Hughes from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Baker Hughes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Baker Hughes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.06.

Baker Hughes Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of BKR stock opened at $43.51 on Thursday. Baker Hughes has a fifty-two week low of $29.19 and a fifty-two week high of $49.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.39. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.40.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts expect that Baker Hughes will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Baker Hughes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Maria C. Borras sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 173,302 shares in the company, valued at $7,758,730.54. This trade represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.