Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 3,464,637 Shares of Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. dramatically increased its Baker Hughes stake by 12,983.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 3.46 million additional shares and bringing its total holding to 3.49 million shares worth about $159 million.
• Insiders sold shares during the quarter, including CEO Lorenzo Simonelli, who sold 272,594 shares for about $16.0 million, while insiders overall sold 550,250 shares last quarter.
• Wall Street remains constructive on Baker Hughes, with 18 Buy ratings and a consensus “Moderate Buy” target price of $69.18, even as the stock was down 1.2% to $64.61 and the company recently reported earnings that beat EPS estimates.

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 12,983.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,491,322 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,464,637 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Baker Hughes worth $158,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 5,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 7,341 shares of the company's stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,619 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 3.7% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 6,831 shares of the company's stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 45.1% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 811 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the company'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 value of $16,025,801.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 866,444 shares in the company, valued at $50,938,242.76. This represents a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider owned 15,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $918,367.20. The trade was a 24.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 550,250 shares of company stock valued at $32,988,331 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BKR. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $60.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Johnson Rice began coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.18.

Baker Hughes Stock Down 1.2%

Baker Hughes stock opened at $64.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.97. Baker Hughes Company has a twelve month low of $35.83 and a twelve month high of $70.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.09 and a 200-day moving average of $55.48.

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 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

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

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BKR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report).

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.