31,695 Baxter International Inc. $BAX Shares Sold by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,703 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 31,695 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 38.8% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 26,669 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461 shares in the last quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 21.0% in the third quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management now owns 17,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 3,053 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 53.8% in the third quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 92,868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 32,467 shares in the last quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE bought a new stake in Baxter International in the third quarter worth $428,000. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Baxter International in the third quarter worth $605,000. 90.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of BAX stock opened at $26.36 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.45. Baxter International Inc. has a one year low of $15.73 and a one year high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.06. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.23% and a negative net margin of 6.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. Baxter International’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.10 EPS for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, November 27th will be paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is -2.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on BAX shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Baxter International from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Baxter International from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Baxter International from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 30th. Barclays initiated coverage on Baxter International in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Baxter International from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Baxter International has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

About Baxter International

Baxter International Inc is a global medical products and healthcare technology company headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. The company develops, manufactures and distributes products used in hospitals, clinics, ambulatory care centers and other healthcare settings.

Baxter’s portfolio has included intravenous therapies and administration systems, infusion pumps, connected-care technologies, surgical products, patient monitoring equipment and products used in medication preparation and delivery.