Baxter International Inc. $BAX Stock: Equity Investment Corp Reduces Holdings

Equity Investment Corp reduced its position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,595,384 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 290,881 shares during the period. Baxter International accounts for about 2.2% of Equity Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $158,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional grew its position in Baxter International by 2.3% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 19,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 44,722 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $953,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 15,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,617 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 18,170 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. 90.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BAX. Zacks Research upgraded Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Baxter International in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Baxter International from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Baxter International currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $23.27.

Baxter International Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE BAX opened at $26.42 on Wednesday. Baxter International Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.73 and a 12-month high of $30.00. The company has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.57.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.23% and a negative net margin of 6.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

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

About Baxter International

Baxter International is a global healthcare company that develops and supplies products used in hospitals, clinics and other care settings. Its offerings include intravenous solutions and administration sets, infusion pumps, medication-delivery systems, and products for surgical and hospital care. The company also provides patient-monitoring and connected-care technologies, including products associated with Hillrom, which Baxter acquired in 2021. Its products and services support healthcare professionals and patients in countries around the world.