Legal & General Group Plc Sells 352,620 Shares of Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,795,064 shares of the company’s stock after selling 352,620 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.69% of Baker Hughes worth $309,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Baker Hughes by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,890,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,035,924,000 after buying an additional 598,159 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Baker Hughes by 7.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,546,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,316,462,000 after buying an additional 3,153,709 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Baker Hughes by 7.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 25,903,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,262,033,000 after buying an additional 1,728,016 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Baker Hughes by 3.8% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 17,316,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $843,653,000 after buying an additional 638,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors bought a new position in Baker Hughes during the third quarter valued at about $729,670,000. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.04, for a total transaction of $298,919.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,555 shares in the company, valued at $918,367.20. The trade was a 24.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 866,444 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 550,250 shares of company stock worth $32,988,331 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 1.0%

Baker Hughes stock opened at $66.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.13. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. Baker Hughes Company has a 52 week low of $36.36 and a 52 week high of $70.41.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. Baker Hughes’s payout ratio is currently 29.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $62.00) on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Argus lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.41.

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.