BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Stock

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) had its price target upped by BMO Capital Markets from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.97% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $59.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Capital One Financial increased their price objective on Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Johnson Rice started coverage on Baker Hughes in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Baker Hughes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.61.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Shares of Baker Hughes stock opened at $64.83 on Tuesday. 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 has a one year low of $33.60 and a one year high of $67.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.83.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Baker Hughes will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other Baker Hughes news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 19,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction of $1,131,956.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 14,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,296.68. This trade represents a 56.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 1,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total value of $110,703.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $672,140.04. This represents a 14.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 40,001 shares of company stock valued at $2,322,692. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKR. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 1,142.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 2,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,921,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,483,000 after acquiring an additional 474,583 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter valued at $251,000. Sonoma Allocations LLC raised its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. Sonoma Allocations LLC now owns 8,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 3,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.