Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Cut to “Sell” at Citigroup

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) was downgraded by analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday. They currently have a $17.00 price objective on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 12.13% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on BAX. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Baxter International from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Baxter International in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Baxter International from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Baxter International from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $19.73.

Baxter International Price Performance

Baxter International stock opened at $19.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Baxter International has a 1 year low of $15.73 and a 1 year high of $32.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.76.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.62 billion. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 9.70% and a positive return on equity of 16.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Baxter International will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BAX. Greenhaven Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Baxter International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $143,186,000. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in shares of Baxter International by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 57,396,370 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,306,915,000 after acquiring an additional 5,274,750 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Baxter International by 477.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,725,251 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,547 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Baxter International by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,510,205 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $257,174,000 after acquiring an additional 972,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Baxter International by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,410,689 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $65,216,000 after acquiring an additional 894,761 shares in 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.