Barclays Downgrades Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) to Equal Weight

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Barclays from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $74.00 price target on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.89% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zephirin Group raised their price objective on Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research downgraded Baker Hughes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.18.

Baker Hughes Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of BKR stock opened at $63.86 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.13. Baker Hughes has a twelve month low of $35.83 and a twelve month high of $70.41. The company has a market capitalization of $63.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.97.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.09. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.17%.The business had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Baker Hughes will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In other Baker Hughes news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total value of $16,025,801.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,938,242.76. The trade was a 23.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 19,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $1,131,956.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 14,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,296.68. This represents a 56.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 569,400 shares of company stock worth $34,120,287. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter valued at $778,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,755,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,813,000 after buying an additional 309,996 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,147,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,234,000 after buying an additional 367,728 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 829,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,429,000 after buying an additional 99,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 10,225.3% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 849,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,391,000 after buying an additional 841,338 shares in the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.