Baxter International Inc. $BAX Shares Sold by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 97.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,209 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 49,645 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $28,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in Baxter International by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 52,121,620 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,578,243,000 after acquiring an additional 662,695 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Baxter International by 2.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,882,960 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $388,416,000 after acquiring an additional 326,652 shares during the last quarter. Parkwood LLC purchased a new stake in Baxter International in the second quarter valued at $9,459,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Baxter International by 2,319.6% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 298,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,801,000 after purchasing an additional 286,359 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Baxter International by 13.4% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,900,828 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,568,000 after buying an additional 224,804 shares during the last quarter. 90.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Baxter International Trading Up 0.6%

BAX opened at $19.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.84. Baxter International Inc. has a one year low of $17.40 and a one year high of $37.74. The company has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.83.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. Baxter International’s payout ratio is currently -6.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Baxter International from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research downgraded Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Baxter International from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Baxter International from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $21.40.

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.