National Pension Service Buys 64,323 Shares of Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its Baker Hughes stake by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 64,323 additional shares and bringing its holding to 1,317,478 shares valued at about $60 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with 92.06% of Baker Hughes shares held by institutions, while several other large investors also recently boosted or initiated positions.
• Analysts remain constructive on the stock: Baker Hughes has a Moderate Buy consensus, a $69.41 average price target, and recent earnings beat EPS estimates even though revenue slightly missed expectations.

National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,317,478 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 64,323 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.13% of Baker Hughes worth $59,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKR. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 3rd quarter valued at $729,670,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 12,983.5% during the 4th 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 during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.1% during the 3rd 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 during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter valued at $119,078,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 25.7% during the 3rd 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 during the period. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Baker Hughes from $60.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Baker Hughes from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.41.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In related news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.04, for a total transaction of $298,919.52. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 23.93% decrease in their position. 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. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Baker Hughes Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ BKR opened at $63.88 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.79. Baker Hughes Company has a one year low of $36.53 and a one year high of $70.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.17%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

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

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