Citigroup Lowers Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Price Target to $74.00

Key Points

• Citigroup cut its price target on Baker Hughes to $74 from $80, while keeping a buy rating. The new target still implies about 15.7% upside from the prior close.
• Other analysts have also recently raised their targets on the stock, including Piper Sandler, UBS, HSBC, JPMorgan, and Susquehanna. Overall, Baker Hughes now has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $69.14.
• Baker Hughes shares were trading around $63.95 when the report was published, near the stock’s 50-day average. The company also recently beat earnings expectations with $0.58 EPS versus the expected $0.49, though revenue came in slightly below estimates.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Citigroup from $80.00 to $74.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.72% from the stock's previous close.

BKR has been the topic of several other reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Baker Hughes from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. HSBC lifted their price target on Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Baker Hughes from $60.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.14.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKR traded down $0.59 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $63.95. The stock had a trading volume of 776,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,238,852. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Baker Hughes has a 52 week low of $36.99 and a 52 week high of $70.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.04, for a total value of $298,919.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $918,367.20. This represents a 24.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total transaction of $16,025,801.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,938,242.76. The trade was a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKR. EFG International AG bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 344.1% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 604 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.06% of the company's stock.

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.

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