Clearbridge Investments LLC Decreases Holdings in Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Clearbridge Investments reduced its Baker Hughes stake by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 21,750 shares and leaving it with 2.44 million shares valued at about $111.2 million.
• Institutional interest in Baker Hughes remains strong, with several large firms adding positions and 92.06% of the stock now held by institutions and hedge funds.
• Analysts remain constructive on the stock: Baker Hughes has a Moderate Buy consensus, with an average price target of $69.14, while the company also beat quarterly EPS estimates and continued paying a dividend.

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,442,677 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,750 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.25% of Baker Hughes worth $111,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter worth about $1,022,491,000. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 3rd quarter worth about $729,670,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Baker Hughes by 12,983.5% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,491,322 shares of the company's stock worth $158,994,000 after buying an additional 3,464,637 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter worth about $144,262,000. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Baker Hughes by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,546,388 shares of the company's stock worth $2,316,462,000 after buying an additional 3,153,709 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKR shares. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Johnson Rice started coverage on Baker Hughes in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Baker Hughes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Baker Hughes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.14.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

BKR opened at $62.59 on Monday. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $63.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.41. Baker Hughes Company has a 1-year low of $37.38 and a 1-year high of $70.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.93.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.09. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The business had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. Baker Hughes's payout ratio is presently 29.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of Baker Hughes 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.04, for a total transaction of $298,919.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $918,367.20. The trade was a 24.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 282,745 shares of company stock valued at $16,651,472. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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.