Baker Hughes Company $BKR Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 4.1% in Q4 to 2,158,778 shares, holding about $101.8 million (0.22% of the company) at period end.
• Insiders have been net sellers: CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares for roughly $16.0 million, and insiders have sold 569,400 shares (~$34.1 million) in the past 90 days, leaving insiders with about 0.19% ownership.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view with a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating and an average price target of $69.18 (19 Buy, 2 Hold, 1 Sell), while several firms recently raised targets up to $80.00.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,158,778 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 84,142 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.22% of Baker Hughes worth $101,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKR. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 1,242.5% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 537 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 661 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 811 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 840 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 357.8% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,021 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BKR shares. Zacks Research downgraded Baker Hughes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Baker Hughes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Baker Hughes from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.18.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In related news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 15,555 shares in the company, valued at $918,367.20. The trade was a 24.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total value of $16,025,801.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 866,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,938,242.76. The trade was a 23.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 569,400 shares of company stock valued at $34,120,287. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKR opened at $63.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $63.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.87. Baker Hughes Company has a 1-year low of $35.83 and a 1-year high of $70.41.

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

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Baker Hughes's payout ratio is presently 29.39%.

Baker Hughes Profile

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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