Lazard Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 458.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,064 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 73,923 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $5,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKR. Castleark Management LLC grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 629.4% in the 1st quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 387,190 shares of the company's stock worth $23,638,000 after buying an additional 334,110 shares during the period. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Baker Hughes during the 1st quarter valued at about $282,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 111.2% during the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 76,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,643,000 after acquiring an additional 40,046 shares during the period. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA bought a new stake in Baker Hughes during the first quarter worth about $888,000. Finally, Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 15.5% during the first quarter. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC now owns 282,825 shares of the company's stock worth $17,266,000 after acquiring an additional 38,008 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total value of $10,599,844.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 703,444 shares in the company, valued at $41,102,232.92. The trade was a 20.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 15,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,027,327.34. This represents a 24.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 367,910 shares of company stock worth $22,420,797. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BKR. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Baker Hughes from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Baker Hughes from $60.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Baker Hughes in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group set a $51.00 target price on Baker Hughes in a report on Tuesday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.95.

Baker Hughes Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of Baker Hughes stock opened at $59.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.96. Baker Hughes Company has a 52-week low of $41.96 and a 52-week high of $70.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.25.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Sunday, July 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Baker Hughes's dividend payout ratio is 29.68%.

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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