Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Reduces Holdings in Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd cut its Baker Hughes stake by 21.6% in the first quarter, leaving it with 92,938 shares worth about $5.64 million.
• Baker Hughes reported better-than-expected adjusted earnings of $0.58 per share for the latest quarter, though revenue of $6.59 billion came in slightly below analyst estimates.
• The company remains viewed favorably by Wall Street, with 18 Buy ratings, a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, and an average price target of $70.00.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd decreased its position in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 21.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,938 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,612 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $5,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. EFG International AG acquired a new position in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 344.1% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 604 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Baker Hughes Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of BKR stock opened at $55.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $54.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Baker Hughes Company has a fifty-two week low of $39.47 and a fifty-two week high of $70.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.69.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.09. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The business had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Baker Hughes's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised Baker Hughes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 5,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total transaction of $326,751.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,027,327.34. This trade represents a 24.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 703,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,102,232.92. This represents a 20.50% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 367,910 shares of company stock valued at $22,420,797. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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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