Baker Hughes Company $BKR Stock Position Raised by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Key Points

• Generali Asset Management boosted its Baker Hughes stake by 39.6% in the fourth quarter, while other institutional investors also increased holdings; institutions now own 92.06% of the stock.
• Analysts remain generally positive, with 18 Buy ratings versus three Holds and one Sell. The consensus price target is $69.18, though Zacks recently cut the stock to “strong sell” while several firms raised their targets.
• Baker Hughes beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $0.58 versus the $0.49 estimate, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share payable May 15.

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 39.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 121,838 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 34,589 shares during the quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR's holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $5,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BKR. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Baker Hughes by 84.0% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,728 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 11,292 shares during the last quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC grew its position in Baker Hughes by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 108,009 shares of the company's stock worth $4,919,000 after acquiring an additional 3,136 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 16,883 shares of the company's stock worth $769,000 after purchasing an additional 4,707 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,158,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,765,000 after purchasing an additional 84,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA raised its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 311,018 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,164,000 after purchasing an additional 47,141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on BKR. Zacks Research lowered shares of Baker Hughes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. HSBC upped their price target on Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $79.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Eighteen 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.18.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In other Baker Hughes news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of the firm'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 value of $298,919.52. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $918,367.20. This trade represents a 24.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of Baker Hughes 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,938,242.76. This represents a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 corporate insiders.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKR opened at $63.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.97. Baker Hughes Company has a 1 year low of $35.83 and a 1 year high of $70.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $62.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.87.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $6.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.71 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

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 dividend payout ratio is presently 29.39%.

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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