Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Given New $79.00 Price Target at Argus

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) had its target price boosted by Argus from $67.00 to $79.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,MarketScreener reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Baker Hughes from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research cut Baker Hughes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.64.

Baker Hughes Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKR traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $69.12. 5,440,239 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,178,195. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.97. 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 moving average price is $61.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.29. Baker Hughes has a 12 month low of $35.83 and a 12 month high of $70.41.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.71 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.17%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Baker Hughes will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.04, for a total value of $298,919.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,555 shares in the company, valued at $918,367.20. This represents 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 hyperlink. Also, Director William G. Beattie sold 18,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total value of $1,032,537.67. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 590,251 shares of company stock valued at $35,311,023. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Baker Hughes in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,920,000. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $778,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Baker Hughes by 12.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Baker Hughes by 5.4% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in Baker Hughes by 13.6% in the third 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 during the period. 92.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.