Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,328,202 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 356,612 shares during the period. Baxter International accounts for 1.1% of Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $63,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BAX. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,436 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 649,463 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $19,666,000 after purchasing an additional 18,439 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,638,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $231,304,000 after purchasing an additional 97,687 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 24,356 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 5.5% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 53,933 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after buying an additional 2,813 shares in the last quarter. 90.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Baxter International Stock Up 0.0%

Baxter International stock opened at $18.78 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $17.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a PE ratio of -8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.64. Baxter International Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.73 and a 1-year high of $32.04.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.15% and a negative net margin of 9.70%.Baxter International’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Baxter International Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Baxter International’s payout ratio is presently -1.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BAX shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Baxter International from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Baxter International from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Evercore decreased their price target on Baxter International from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Baxter International from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $19.73.

Baxter International Profile

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.