Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Cut to Equal Weight at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays downgraded Baker Hughes from "overweight" to "equal weight" and set a $74 price target, implying roughly an 11% upside from the prior close.
• Earnings: Baker Hughes beat Q1 EPS estimates ($0.58 vs. $0.49) but slightly missed revenue expectations ($6.59B vs. $6.71B), while analysts' consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a $69.18 target and expected FY EPS of 2.32.
• Insider selling: Executives, including CEO Lorenzo Simonelli, sold large stakes (Simonelli sold 272,594 shares worth ~$16M), with total insider sales of 569,400 shares (~$34.1M) and insiders now owning 0.19% of the company.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Barclays from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report issued on Thursday. They presently have a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays's price objective points to a potential upside of 11.00% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on BKR. Argus raised their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $79.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Johnson Rice began coverage on Baker Hughes in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research lowered Baker Hughes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Baker Hughes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.18.

Baker Hughes Stock Down 1.6%

BKR opened at $66.67 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.09 and a 200-day moving average of $54.74. The company has a market capitalization of $66.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.97. Baker Hughes has a fifty-two week low of $35.83 and a fifty-two week high of $70.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.13.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 14.17%. Baker Hughes's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Baker Hughes will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In related news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.04, for a total transaction of $298,919.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,555 shares in the company, valued at $918,367.20. This represents a 24.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total value of $16,025,801.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,444 shares in the company, valued at $50,938,242.76. This trade represents a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 569,400 shares of company stock valued at $34,120,287 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Baker Hughes

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in Baker Hughes by 1,005.1% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 49,353,310 shares of the company's stock worth $2,247,550,000 after purchasing an additional 44,887,481 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth $1,022,491,000. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the third quarter worth $729,670,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,635,780 shares of the company's stock worth $529,896,000 after buying an additional 4,278,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 12,983.5% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,491,322 shares of the company's stock valued at $158,994,000 after acquiring an additional 3,464,637 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes is an energy technology company that provides a broad portfolio of products, services and digital solutions for the oil and gas and industrial markets. Its offerings span oilfield services and equipment — including drilling, evaluation, completion and production technologies — as well as turbomachinery, compressors and related process equipment used in midstream and downstream operations. The company also supplies aftermarket services, field support and integrated solutions designed to improve asset performance and uptime across the energy value chain.

The firm's roots trace back to the merger of Baker International and Hughes Tool Company, and more recently it combined with GE's oil and gas business in 2017 to form Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE); subsequent changes in ownership restored Baker Hughes as an independent publicly traded company.

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.