Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 2,355,545 Shares of Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its position in Baker Hughes by 1.9%, selling 2,355,545 shares and holding 121,534,530 shares (a 12.32% stake) valued at about $5.53 billion.
• Baker Hughes beat Q1 EPS expectations ($0.58 vs. $0.49), triggering broad analyst upgrades and lifts to price targets; the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $67.73.
• Insider sales have been significant: CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares (~$16.0M), cutting his stake by 23.93%, and insiders have sold 590,251 shares (~$35.3M) in the last 90 days.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 121,534,530 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,355,545 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.32% of Baker Hughes worth $5,534,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter valued at $778,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Baker Hughes by 94.1% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 123,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,606,000 after purchasing an additional 59,670 shares during the period. Kercheville Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Baker Hughes by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 27,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Baker Hughes by 316.2% in the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 31,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 24,066 shares during the period. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Baker Hughes

In other news, Director William G. Beattie sold 18,023 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total value of $1,032,537.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 866,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,938,242.76. This represents a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 590,251 shares of company stock valued at $35,311,023. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus increased their price objective on Baker Hughes from $55.00 to $67.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Capital One Financial increased their price target on Baker Hughes from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Friday. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.73.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of Baker Hughes stock opened at $68.42 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.92. Baker Hughes Company has a 1-year low of $34.56 and a 1-year high of $70.41. The company has a market cap of $67.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.90.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.17%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Baker Hughes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.39%.

Baker Hughes News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Baker Hughes this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages raised price targets and ratings after Q1 results, signaling analyst confidence and creating upside pressure (notable raises: BMO, TD Cowen, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Susquehanna, HSBC, Stifel, RBC). This broad upgrade cycle supports further upside. These Analysts Increase Their Forecasts On Baker Hughes After Better-Than-Expected Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Baker Hughes reported better-than-expected Q1 results (EPS beat), which is the proximate trigger for the analyst upgrades and has improved investor confidence in near-term cash flow and margin outlook. Article: Q1 results and analyst reaction
• Positive Sentiment: Market momentum: coverage highlights that BKR is trading at its highest levels since 2014 and that its gains are helping boost the Nasdaq energy-related momentum — a technical/market-flow tailwind for the stock. Baker Hughes Signals Strength With Nasdaq Composite Index Boost Baker Hughes stock trades at highest level since 2014
• Neutral Sentiment: Some firms (e.g., UBS) raised price targets but maintained a neutral rating — suggests upside views are broadening, though a few analysts remain cautious on valuation or near-term catalysts. UBS adjusts Baker Hughes price target

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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