Greenhaven Associates Inc. Takes Position in Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Greenhaven Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 6,288,349 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $143,186,000. Baxter International comprises about 2.2% of Greenhaven Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Greenhaven Associates Inc. owned about 1.22% of Baxter International at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in Baxter International by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 183,276 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,576,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 82.2% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,202 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,445 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Baxter International by 1.7% during the second quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 138,325 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,188,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 11.4% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,273,414 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,559,000 after purchasing an additional 130,169 shares during the period. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Baxter International in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. 90.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Baxter International from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Baxter International from $25.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Baxter International in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Baxter International from $36.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Baxter International currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $21.40.

Baxter International Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE BAX opened at $20.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.59. Baxter International Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $37.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 3.09% and a positive return on equity of 17.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. 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 currently -6.06%.

Baxter International Company 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.