Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 13,753 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 322% compared to the average daily volume of 3,262 put options.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.88, for a total value of $169,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $508,132.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.44, for a total value of $294,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $425,437.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP James E. Apostolides sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.88, for a total value of $169,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $508,132.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $551,555,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the first quarter worth approximately $117,083,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,078,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,881,000 after purchasing an additional 2,316,638 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 846.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,378,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,025,000 after buying an additional 2,127,675 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,635,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,487 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of BKR stock traded up $0.54 on Wednesday, hitting $33.54. 3,359,494 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,662,335. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.42. Baker Hughes has a one year low of $26.81 and a one year high of $37.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $31.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.55.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 7.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Baker Hughes will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on Baker Hughes from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.00.

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.