Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 40,645 Shares of Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. trimmed its stake in Baker Hughes by 6.3%, selling 40,645 shares and leaving it with 603,192 shares (about 0.06%) valued at $29.37 million at the end of the quarter.
• CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares on March 11 for roughly $16.03 million (avg. $58.79), and insiders have sold 590,251 shares worth $35.31 million in the past 90 days.
• Analyst sentiment is positive — 20 Buys and 2 Holds give a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $59.61; Baker Hughes also recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates and pays a $0.23 quarterly dividend (≈1.7% yield).

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 6.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 603,192 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,645 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. owned about 0.06% of Baker Hughes worth $29,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in Baker Hughes by 1,242.5% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 537 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in Baker Hughes by 104.0% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 661 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Baker Hughes in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 66.6% in the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew 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 valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the period. 92.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus raised their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $55.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Monday, December 29th. iA Financial set a $60.00 price objective on Baker Hughes in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on Baker Hughes from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Baker Hughes from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total transaction of $16,025,801.26. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 1,985 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total transaction of $110,703.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,052 shares in the company, valued at $672,140.04. This represents a 14.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 590,251 shares of company stock worth $35,311,023 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of BKR stock opened at $54.26 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $57.31 and its 200 day moving average is $50.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.83. Baker Hughes Company has a 12 month low of $33.60 and a 12 month high of $67.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.09 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 14.26%. Baker Hughes's revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Baker Hughes's dividend payout ratio is 35.38%.

Baker Hughes Company 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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