Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Reduces Position in Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners cut its Baker Hughes stake by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 20,160 shares and leaving it with 108,757 shares valued at about $4.95 million.
• Insider selling was also notable, with CEO Lorenzo Simonelli selling 181,411 shares and CAO Rebecca L. Charlton selling 5,088 shares, both under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Baker Hughes posted mixed quarterly results: EPS of $0.58 beat estimates, while revenue of $6.59 billion came in slightly below expectations. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, and analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy.”

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC decreased its position in Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 108,757 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,160 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $4,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EFG International AG acquired a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 344.1% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 604 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Baker Hughes by 786.5% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In related news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.36, for a total value of $11,494,200.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 784,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,734,051.84. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 5,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total value of $326,751.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,027,327.34. This trade represents a 24.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of Baker Hughes stock opened at $58.41 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.13. Baker Hughes Company has a fifty-two week low of $37.38 and a fifty-two week high of $70.41. The company has a market cap of $57.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.93.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.09. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.17%.The company had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Baker Hughes's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Baker Hughes's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKR has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Baker Hughes currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.14.

Baker Hughes 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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