Insider Selling: Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) CEO Sells 272,593 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• CEO sold 272,593 shares on March 4 at an average price of $61.13 for roughly $16.66 million, cutting Lorenzo Simonelli's stake by 28.8% to 672,810 shares (≈$41.13M).
• Baker Hughes beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.78 vs. $0.67; revenue $7.39B vs. $7.09B), pays a $0.23 quarterly dividend (~1.5% yield), and holds a consensus analyst rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $59.61.

Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,593 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.13, for a total transaction of $16,663,610.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 672,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,128,875.30. The trade was a 28.83% 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 the SEC website.

Baker Hughes Stock Down 0.6%

BKR traded down $0.38 on Friday, hitting $59.81. 9,369,550 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,552,938. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $55.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Baker Hughes Company has a twelve month low of $33.60 and a twelve month high of $67.00. The company has a market cap of $59.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.83.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $7.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.09 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The firm's revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Baker Hughes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in Baker Hughes by 1,242.5% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 537 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. EFG International AG acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in Baker Hughes by 344.1% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 604 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Baker Hughes by 104.0% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 661 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BKR shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. iA Financial set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Baker Hughes from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.61.

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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