California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Stock Position in Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its Baker Hughes stake by 12.1% in Q3 to 2,018,900 shares (about $98.36M), and institutional investors now own roughly 92.06% of the company, with Vanguard, Capital World Investors and a new large Norges Bank position also increasing exposure.
• Wall Street is generally positive: 20 analysts rate the stock Buy versus 2 Hold, giving a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.61, with several recent target upgrades.
• Insiders have been net sellers — CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares (a 23.93% cut to his holding) and insiders disposed of 590,251 shares (~$35.31M) in the last 90 days — meanwhile Baker Hughes recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates and pays a $0.23 quarterly dividend (1.7% yield).

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,018,900 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 218,538 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.20% of Baker Hughes worth $98,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,890,075 shares of the company's stock worth $6,035,924,000 after buying an additional 598,159 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,546,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,316,462,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153,709 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 25,903,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,262,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728,016 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the second quarter worth $862,722,000. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Baker Hughes by 3.8% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 17,316,358 shares of the company's stock worth $843,653,000 after acquiring an additional 638,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Capital One Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. iA Financial set a $60.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Johnson Rice started coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Baker Hughes from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Zephirin Group increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold 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 $59.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other Baker Hughes news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the firm'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. This trade represents a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 843 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.34, for a total transaction of $47,494.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at $789,830.46. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 590,251 shares of company stock worth $35,311,023 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of Baker Hughes stock opened at $55.19 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.91. Baker Hughes Company has a 12 month low of $33.60 and a 12 month high of $67.00.

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

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. 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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