Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BKR. Citigroup upped their target price on Baker Hughes from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Capital One Financial raised their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Twenty research 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.30.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

BKR opened at $58.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Baker Hughes has a 52-week low of $33.60 and a 52-week high of $59.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.79. The company has a market cap of $58.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.89.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.11. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 14.51%. The business had revenue of $7.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Baker Hughes will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is 35.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In related news, Director William G. Beattie sold 18,023 shares of Baker Hughes 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 1,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total value of $110,703.45. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,052 shares in the company, valued at $672,140.04. The trade was a 14.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,851 shares of company stock valued at $1,190,736. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BKR. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its holdings in Baker Hughes by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 5,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 7,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 17,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 6,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Baker Hughes News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Baker Hughes won a preferred‑provider role to supply downstream chemicals to Marathon Petroleum across North America — a commercial win that supports recurring revenue and aftermarket exposure in refining, which can boost near‑term revenue visibility. Marathon deal
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share (record Feb 17, payable Feb 27), reinforcing shareholder returns and supporting investor income demand; yield ~1.6% and payout ratio remains moderate.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst momentum and institutional buying: several firms recently raised price targets and multiple large institutions have added to positions, underpinning a favorable analyst/institutional backdrop and supporting demand for shares.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other commentary highlight BKR as a momentum/energy‑tech name after its multi‑year rally — useful context for momentum investors but not an immediate fundamental change. Zacks momentum piece
• Neutral Sentiment: A Yahoo Finance piece discusses whether current pricing reflects Baker Hughes’ expanding energy‑tech role after its rally — informative for valuation debates but not a discrete catalyst. Yahoo Finance
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest data in the feed appears to show zero shares / NaN changes (likely a reporting quirk). Current short‑interest ratios are negligible per that report — if accurate, it reduces short‑squeeze risk; if erroneous, ignore until corrected.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director William Beattie sold ~18,023 shares (~$1.03M) on Feb 3. Insider sales can be perceived negatively by some investors, especially if timed near highs, though one director sale is not uncommon and may be for personal reasons. Insider trade filing

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.