Swiss National Bank Sells 142,000 Shares of Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Baker Hughes by 4.7% in Q3, selling 142,000 shares and now holds 2,855,920 shares (about 0.29%) valued at roughly $139.14 million.
• Insiders have sold 312,594 shares in the last 90 days (insiders own 0.27%), while institutional investors hold about 92.06% of the company’s stock.
• Baker Hughes beat quarterly estimates with $0.78 EPS vs. $0.67 expected and $7.39B revenue, pays a $0.23 quarterly dividend (1.5% yield), and carries a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $59.61.

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,855,920 shares of the company's stock after selling 142,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.29% of Baker Hughes worth $139,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Baker Hughes by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,890,075 shares of the company's stock worth $6,035,924,000 after purchasing an additional 598,159 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Baker Hughes by 1.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,875,670 shares of the company's stock valued at $987,961,000 after purchasing an additional 397,984 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the second quarter valued at approximately $862,722,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 3.8% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 17,316,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $843,653,000 after purchasing an additional 638,640 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 18.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,834,534 shares of the company's stock worth $492,076,000 after buying an additional 2,044,402 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In related news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 19,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $1,131,956.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 14,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $862,296.68. The trade was a 56.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William G. Beattie sold 18,023 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $1,032,537.67. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 312,594 shares of company stock valued at $18,986,302 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

BKR opened at $60.10 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $56.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $59.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.83. Baker Hughes Company has a 1 year low of $33.60 and a 1 year high of $67.00.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.11. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 9.33%.The firm had revenue of $7.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Baker Hughes's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Baker Hughes's payout ratio is 35.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Johnson Rice began coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $55.00 to $67.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on Baker Hughes from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Baker Hughes has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.61.

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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