Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Stock

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $64.00 to $69.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 12.65% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Capital One Financial upped their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Baker Hughes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, iA Financial set a $60.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.39.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 0.9%

Baker Hughes stock opened at $61.25 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $60.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.90. Baker Hughes has a fifty-two week low of $34.06 and a fifty-two week high of $67.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.11. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Baker Hughes will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other Baker Hughes news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total transaction of $16,025,801.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,444 shares in the company, valued at $50,938,242.76. This represents a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $1,032,537.67. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 590,251 shares of company stock valued at $35,311,023. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 1,242.5% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. EFG International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 344.1% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 604 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Baker Hughes by 104.0% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 661 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.