Banco Santander S.A. Acquires New Position in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 17,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKR. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Baker Hughes during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Alta Advisers Ltd acquired a new position in Baker Hughes in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 81.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 714 shares during the period. 92.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of BKR stock opened at $44.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.30. Baker Hughes has a 1 year low of $28.32 and a 1 year high of $45.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.60.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.06. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 13.77%. The business had revenue of $6.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Baker Hughes will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BKR. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.59.

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.