Gradient Investments LLC Trims Holdings in Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Gradient Investments LLC decreased its position in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) by 12.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 345,391 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,217 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $19,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth about $778,000. OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Baker Hughes in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,049,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Baker Hughes by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 484,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,055,000 after purchasing an additional 72,714 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 469,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,373,000 after purchasing an additional 104,428 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,892,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,230,000 after purchasing an additional 37,473 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Baker Hughes

In other Baker Hughes news, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 5,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total value of $326,751.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,027,327.34. This trade represents a 24.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total value of $10,599,844.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 703,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,102,232.92. This trade represents a 20.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 367,910 shares of company stock valued at $22,420,797. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Shares of Baker Hughes stock opened at $61.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $61.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.65. Baker Hughes Company has a one year low of $41.96 and a one year high of $70.41.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, July 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 11.17%.The company had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Baker Hughes’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Baker Hughes’s payout ratio is currently 29.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BKR. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Friday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.95.

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.