Prudential PLC Acquires 196,230 Shares of Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) by 96.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 399,665 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 196,230 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $18,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,890,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,035,924,000 after acquiring an additional 598,159 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Baker Hughes by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,546,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,316,462,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,709 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Baker Hughes by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,213,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,194,000 after acquiring an additional 204,534 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Baker Hughes by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 25,903,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,262,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728,016 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter worth about $1,022,491,000. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In related news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,938,242.76. The trade was a 23.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 5,088 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total transaction of $326,751.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 15,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,027,327.34. This represents a 24.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 282,745 shares of company stock worth $16,651,472. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BKR. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Capital One Financial raised their target price on Baker Hughes from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.14.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 2.9%

NASDAQ:BKR opened at $66.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $63.91 and its 200 day moving average is $57.31. Baker Hughes Company has a 12 month low of $37.08 and a 12 month high of $70.41.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 14.17%. Baker Hughes’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

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

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.