Leonteq Securities AG Takes $1.26 Million Position in Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Leonteq Securities AG disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Baker Hughes, buying 27,565 shares valued at about $1.26 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with Baker Hughes holding an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $69.41 after several analysts raised their targets.
• The company reported Q1 EPS of $0.58, beating estimates, while revenue came in at $6.59 billion. Baker Hughes also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, equal to a 1.4% yield.

Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 27,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,255,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BKR. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the third quarter valued at about $729,670,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 12,983.5% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,491,322 shares of the company's stock valued at $158,994,000 after acquiring an additional 3,464,637 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,546,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,316,462,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153,709 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter valued at about $119,078,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 25.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 9,325,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $454,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906,384 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BKR shares. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $79.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Johnson Rice began coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Monday, April 27th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zephirin Group increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.41.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In related news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total value of $16,025,801.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 24.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 550,250 shares of company stock worth $32,988,331. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKR opened at $65.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.97. Baker Hughes Company has a 12 month low of $35.83 and a 12 month high of $70.41. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $62.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.11. 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 (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business 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 business's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. Analysts expect that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. Baker Hughes's payout ratio is currently 29.39%.

Baker Hughes Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.