Lorenzo Simonelli Sells 272,593 Shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Stock

Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.13, for a total value of $16,663,610.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 672,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,128,875.30. This represents a 28.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKR opened at $59.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Baker Hughes Company has a 1-year low of $33.60 and a 1-year high of $67.00. The company has a market capitalization of $59.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.13 and a 200-day moving average of $50.32.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.09 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 9.33%.The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Baker Hughes’s payout ratio is presently 35.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Johnson Rice assumed coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Capital One Financial raised their target price on Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Baker Hughes from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Baker Hughes from $59.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Baker Hughes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.61.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,890,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,035,924,000 after purchasing an additional 598,159 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 61,409,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,796,586,000 after buying an additional 937,614 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 1,005.1% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 49,353,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,247,550,000 after buying an additional 44,887,481 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,546,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,316,462,000 after buying an additional 3,153,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 0.8% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

More Baker Hughes News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Baker Hughes’ weekly rig count showed U.S. drillers added oil and gas rigs for the first time in four weeks, a sign of improving activity that supports demand for BKR’s services. US drillers add oil, gas rigs for first time in four weeks, Baker Hughes says
• Positive Sentiment: Baker Hughes successfully priced $6.5B of U.S. senior notes and €3B of euro notes across multiple maturities; the sales show investor demand and provide cash to help fund the Chart Industries takeover. Baker Hughes Successfully Prices $6.5 Billion and €3 Billion Offerings of Senior Notes
• Positive Sentiment: At least one sell-side note expects upside for BKR, providing support to the equity narrative. Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: Widening geopolitical risk after the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader is reshaping energy markets; higher oil-price risk can boost activity and service revenues over time. The Iran War Is Reshaping Energy Markets and These Stocks Win Big
• Neutral Sentiment: Earlier media reports said Baker Hughes planned a ~$10B cross-border bond sale to help finance the Chart acquisition—this was a precursor to the priced notes and mostly confirms the financing plan. Baker Hughes Plans $10 Billion Bond Sale to Finance Chart Industries Acquisition
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest figures are showing zero shares (likely a data/ reporting artifact) and are not informative for current positioning. (Data entry)
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,593 shares (~$16.7M) on March 4, reducing his stake by ~29% — a large insider sale that can weigh on sentiment. SEC filing: SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple other recent insider sales are documented (Quiver summary), which may amplify investor concern about insider liquidity and timing around the Chart acquisition. Quiver: Debt offerings and insider activity

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.