Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Buys New Position in Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR)

Key Points

• Essex Investment Management Co. LLC invested $3.01 million in Baker Hughes, acquiring 68,515 shares of stock during the first quarter.
• Baker Hughes reported an earnings per share of $0.63 for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.08, despite a 3.2% decrease in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, scheduled for payment on August 15, with an annualized yield of 1.98%.

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 68,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,011,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 621,468 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,314,000 after acquiring an additional 17,035 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 51.9% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 24,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 8,351 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,543,925 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,004,212,000 after acquiring an additional 465,832 shares during the period. Stack Financial Management Inc bought a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 1st quarter valued at about $12,890,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,239,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,462,000 after acquiring an additional 82,706 shares during the period. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price objective on Baker Hughes in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $53.00 target price on Baker Hughes in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Baker Hughes from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 526,568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.42, for a total transaction of $23,390,150.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 667,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,654,481.06. This represents a 44.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

BKR traded down $1.39 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.67. The stock had a trading volume of 4,128,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,104,376. The company has a market cap of $43.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.58 and a 200 day moving average of $41.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.41. Baker Hughes Company has a 1 year low of $32.25 and a 1 year high of $49.40.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 11.04%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. Baker Hughes's dividend payout ratio is 30.07%.

Baker Hughes Company Profile

Baker Hughes Company provides a portfolio of technologies and services to energy and industrial value chain worldwide. The company operates through Oilfield Services & Equipment (OFSE) and Industrial & Energy Technology (IET) segments. The OFSE segment designs and manufactures products and provides related services, including exploration, appraisal, development, production, rejuvenation, and decommissioning for onshore and offshore oilfield operations.