Vest Financial LLC Boosts Holdings in Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 4.1% to 1,105,084 shares (about 0.11% of the company), and institutional investors now own roughly 92.06% of the stock as major holders like Vanguard and Capital World increased positions.
• Baker Hughes beat Q1 EPS ($0.58 vs. $0.49) though revenue was slightly below estimates, triggering broad analyst upgrades; the consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with 19 Buys, 2 Holds and a consensus target of $67.73.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.23 (annualized $0.92, ~1.3% yield), while insiders sold about 590,251 shares in the last quarter, including CEO Lorenzo Simonelli's sale of 272,594 shares (~$16.0M); insiders now own 0.19% of the stock.

Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,105,084 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 43,828 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.11% of Baker Hughes worth $50,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 0.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,546,388 shares of the company's stock worth $2,316,462,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,709 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.1% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 25,903,241 shares of the company's stock worth $1,262,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728,016 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake 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 worth $843,653,000 after purchasing an additional 638,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the third quarter worth about $729,670,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on Baker Hughes from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Baker Hughes has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.73.

Baker Hughes Trading Down 0.8%

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

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Baker Hughes's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 5th. Baker Hughes's payout ratio is presently 29.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other news, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 843 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.34, for a total value of $47,494.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,830.46. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 590,251 shares of company stock valued at $35,311,023. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Baker Hughes

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 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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