Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Cut to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Baker Hughes from “Strong Buy” to “Hold.” Other analysts remain mostly positive, and the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $70.27 price target.
• Baker Hughes beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.70 versus $0.61 expected and revenue of $8.03 billion versus $7.74 billion; revenue rose 14.5% year over year.
• Director John Rice purchased 10,000 shares at an average price of $53.10, increasing his personal stake by 14.86%.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on BKR. TD Cowen upped their target price on Baker Hughes from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $72.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Baker Hughes from $72.00 to $62.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.27.

Baker Hughes Stock Up 3.6%

BKR stock opened at $47.87 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $47.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's 50-day moving average is $56.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.03. Baker Hughes has a 52 week low of $44.26 and a 52 week high of $70.41.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.09. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 10.08%. The company had revenue of $8.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Baker Hughes will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Baker Hughes

In other news, Director John Rice bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $53.10 per share, with a total value of $531,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 77,315 shares in the company, valued at $4,105,426.50. This represents a 14.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKR. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Baker Hughes by 0.6% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 25,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,556,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Baker Hughes by 2.7% in the first quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 6,597 shares of the company's stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 49.0% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 651 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Paladin Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC now owns 9,162 shares of the company's stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Baker Hughes by 36.3% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 954 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. 92.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes NASDAQ: BKR is an energy technology company that provides products and services to the oil and gas industry and other industrial markets. Its offerings include equipment and services used across the energy value chain, from exploration and production to transportation and processing.

The company also develops turbomachinery, industrial equipment, digital technologies and solutions for energy and industrial applications. Its portfolio includes technologies designed to support more efficient operations and lower-emissions energy systems.

Baker Hughes serves customers around the world.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.