Insider Selling: Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) CEO Sells $16,025,801.26 in Stock

Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 866,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,938,242.76. This trade represents a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Lorenzo Simonelli also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 4th, Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,593 shares of Baker Hughes stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.13, for a total value of $16,663,610.09.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKR opened at $54.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.83. Baker Hughes Company has a 52-week low of $33.60 and a 52-week high of $67.00.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.11. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Baker Hughes’s payout ratio is currently 35.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Johnson Rice started coverage on Baker Hughes in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, iA Financial set a $60.00 price objective on 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.61.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 83,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,676,000 after purchasing an additional 24,225 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 5.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 18,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 30.6% in the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 13,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 3,186 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes in the second quarter worth about $639,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 1.0% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,219,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,774,000 after buying an additional 11,909 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is 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.