Baker Hughes Company $BKR Shares Acquired by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) by 3,260.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 571,995 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 554,973 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $26,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BKR. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes during the third quarter worth approximately $729,670,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 12,983.5% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,491,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,994,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464,637 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 7.1% during the third 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 period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $119,078,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 25.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 9,325,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $454,334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,384 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKR. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Johnson Rice began coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Baker Hughes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.04, for a total value of $298,919.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $918,367.20. This trade represents a 24.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,938,242.76. The trade was a 23.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 550,250 shares of company stock worth $32,988,331. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of BKR stock opened at $65.47 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.86. Baker Hughes Company has a 52 week low of $35.83 and a 52 week high of $70.41. 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 company has a market cap of $64.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.97.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.09. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The business had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

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

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.