Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 43,300 Shares of Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,202,589 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,300 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Baker Hughes worth $73,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKR. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the first quarter valued at approximately $248,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 729,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,515,000 after buying an additional 34,094 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Baker Hughes during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $308,000. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Baker Hughes by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 0.3% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 230,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,054,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 5,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total transaction of $326,751.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,997 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,327.34. This trade represents a 24.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total transaction of $10,599,844.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 703,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,102,232.92. This trade represents a 20.50% decrease in their position. 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 three months, insiders sold 367,910 shares of company stock valued at $22,420,797. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Baker Hughes from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Baker Hughes in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Baker Hughes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Baker Hughes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of BKR opened at $56.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.56. The stock has a market cap of $56.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.96. Baker Hughes Company has a 52 week low of $38.47 and a 52 week high of $70.41.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.17%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.27 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is 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.