Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) by 458.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 90,064 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 73,923 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $5,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EFG International AG purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 344.1% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 604 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 651 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKR. HSBC increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised shares of Baker Hughes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.95.

Insider Transactions at Baker Hughes

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total transaction of $10,599,844.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 703,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,102,232.92. The trade was a 20.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 5,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total value of $326,751.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 15,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,027,327.34. This trade represents a 24.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 367,910 shares of company stock worth $22,420,797. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:BKR opened at $59.90 on Friday. Baker Hughes Company has a one year low of $41.96 and a one year high of $70.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last released its earnings results on Sunday, July 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 11.17%.The company had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Baker Hughes’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.68%.

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.