Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Price Target Cut to $23.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) had its price target lowered by Evercore ISI from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,MarketScreener reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Baxter International from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Baxter International from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Baxter International in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus cut Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Baxter International from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.90.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of BAX opened at $20.31 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.83 and a 200-day moving average of $23.02. Baxter International has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $37.74. The firm has a market cap of $10.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.50, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 17.38% and a negative net margin of 3.09%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. Baxter International has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.520-0.570 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 2.350-2.400 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Baxter International will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Baxter International Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -6.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Baxter International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Baxter International by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 5,112 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Baxter International in the third quarter valued at $401,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Baxter International by 1,188.3% during the third quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,865 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 3,565 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Baxter International in the third quarter valued at $5,862,000. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Baxter International by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

About Baxter International

Baxter International Inc is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products, pharmaceutical therapies and biotechnology-based solutions. The company’s primary business activities are organized around renal care, medication delivery, acute therapies, pharmacy automation, surgical care and biotechnology. Baxter’s offerings are designed to support patient care in hospitals, dialysis centers, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities worldwide.

In the renal care segment, Baxter provides hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis systems, water treatment equipment and related disposables, including dialyzers, bloodlines and catheters.