Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 36,841 Shares of Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors boosted its Baker Hughes stake by 43.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 36,841 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 121,091 shares worth about $5.5 million.
• Insider selling was notable: CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares and insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares, with insiders selling 550,250 shares over the last three months in total.
• Baker Hughes posted solid quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 beating estimates and revenue up 2.5% year over year, while analysts remain broadly positive with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target price of $69.41.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 43.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,091 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,841 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $5,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth $778,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,755,743 shares of the company's stock worth $125,813,000 after acquiring an additional 309,996 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 5.4% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,147,684 shares of the company's stock worth $348,234,000 after acquiring an additional 367,728 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 13.6% during the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 829,816 shares of the company's stock worth $40,429,000 after acquiring an additional 99,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 10,225.3% during the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 849,566 shares of the company's stock worth $41,391,000 after acquiring an additional 841,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Baker Hughes

In other news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.04, for a total value of $298,919.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $918,367.20. This trade represents a 24.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 550,250 shares of company stock valued at $32,988,331. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $62.00) on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Baker Hughes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.41.

Baker Hughes Trading Down 5.3%

Baker Hughes stock opened at $63.20 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.41 and a 200-day moving average of $56.62. Baker Hughes Company has a one year low of $36.53 and a one year high of $70.41. 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 has a market cap of $62.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.97.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS 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 company had revenue of $6.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

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

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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