Comerica Bank Sells 18,000 Shares of Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its stake in Baker Hughes by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, selling 18,000 shares and now holding 145,544 shares valued at about $6.63 million.
• Baker Hughes beat EPS estimates (reported $0.58 vs. $0.49 expected) while revenue came in slightly below forecasts ($6.59B vs. $6.71B), and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 (annualized $0.92, ~1.3% yield).
• Significant insider selling occurred—CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares (~$16.0M) and insiders sold 590,251 shares (~$35.3M) over the last three months—while institutional investors own 92.06% and analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus (19 Buys, average target $68.09).

Comerica Bank decreased its stake in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 145,544 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,000 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $6,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,920,000. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $778,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,755,743 shares of the company's stock worth $125,813,000 after buying an additional 309,996 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,147,684 shares of the company's stock worth $348,234,000 after buying an additional 367,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 829,816 shares of the company's stock worth $40,429,000 after buying an additional 99,314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 1.2%

BKR opened at $69.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $61.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Baker Hughes Company has a 12-month low of $35.10 and a 12-month high of $70.41.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.59 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Baker Hughes's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.39%.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In related news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,938,242.76. This represents a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William G. Beattie sold 18,023 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $1,032,537.67. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 590,251 shares of company stock valued at $35,311,023. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Baker Hughes from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Baker Hughes from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Monday. Argus boosted their target price on Baker Hughes from $55.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Sunday. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.09.

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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