Zacks Research Upgrades Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) to Strong-Buy

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Capital One Financial lifted their price target on Baker Hughes from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Friday, August 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.81.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of BKR stock opened at $56.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.09. Baker Hughes has a 52-week low of $43.92 and a 52-week high of $70.41. The company has a market capitalization of $56.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.73 and its 200 day moving average is $61.33.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $41,102,232.92. This represents a 20.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKR. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 1,005.1% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 49,353,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,247,550,000 after purchasing an additional 44,887,481 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,022,491,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $144,262,000. Amundi raised its position in Baker Hughes by 28.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 10,946,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,409,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its holdings in Baker Hughes by 283.8% in the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 2,375,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,179,000 after buying an additional 1,756,593 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Baker Hughes Company Profile

Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ: BKR) is an energy technology company that provides products, services and digital solutions for the energy and industrial sectors. Its offerings support the exploration, development, production, transportation and processing of oil and natural gas, as well as broader energy and industrial operations.

The company’s portfolio includes oilfield services and equipment, drilling and completion technologies, artificial lift systems, subsea production solutions, turbomachinery, compressors, gas technology and liquefied natural gas equipment.