Baker Hughes Officers Sell Ahead of Stock Slide

Baker Hughes Inc. officers sold $2.9 million of the oil-field service company’s stock from May through August, before lower third-quarter earnings and warnings about the fourth quarter almost halved the stock’s value.

Alton Brann, a director who is resigning from Baker’s board effective Dec. 31, sold more than $1.61 million in stock in May, according to the Washington Service, which tracks buying and selling by executives, directors, key shareholders and other insiders. Chief Financial Officer G. Stephen Finley in May sold shares for $666,205 while Senior Vice President Andrew Szescila made sales of $596,462 in August.

“Insider selling is never helpful, and we don’t like to see it, especially surrounded by bad news,” said Gene Pisasale, a portfolio manager with Wilmington Trust Corp. Wilmington Trust owned 108,590 Baker shares as of September, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Baker is “comfortable that there was no improper insider trading,” said Gary Flaharty, a company spokesman. These executives couldn’t be reached for comment.

The executives sold at prices of $30.88 to $34, as the shares climbed to a 52-week high of $36.25 on Aug. 10. The stock began to fall after Baker warned Sept. 14 that third-quarter earnings would miss analysts’ estimates.

The shares dropped more in November and December as the company issued fourth-quarter profit warnings and said unspecified accounting irregularities at its drilling technology unit would cost it $40 million to $50 million. The stock fell $1.19 on Thursday to close at $18.44 on the New York Stock Exchange.