Norges Bank Acquires New Shares in Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new stake in Baker Hughes, buying 22.45 million shares valued at about $1.02 billion, or roughly 2.28% of the company.
• Baker Hughes reported Q1 EPS of $0.58, beating analyst expectations, though revenue of $6.59 billion came in slightly below forecasts; revenue still rose 2.5% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share and continues to draw mostly positive analyst sentiment, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price of $69.41.

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 22,452,596 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,022,491,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 2.28% of Baker Hughes as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BKR. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 344.1% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 604 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 45.1% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 811 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 840 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 1,423 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,442 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Baker Hughes Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of BKR opened at $63.88 on Friday. Baker Hughes Company has a 12 month low of $36.53 and a 12 month high of $70.41. The firm's 50 day moving average is $63.69 and its 200-day moving average is $56.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Johnson Rice initiated coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Capital One Financial increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Baker Hughes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.41.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total transaction of $16,025,801.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,938,242.76. This trade represents a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $298,919.52. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,555 shares in the company, valued at $918,367.20. This represents a 24.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 550,250 shares of company stock worth $32,988,331 over the last ninety days. 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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