Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.7273.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore decreased their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Baxter International from $20.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Baxter International in a report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Baxter International from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baxter International

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 3.2% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 35.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,720 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 0.6% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 498,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 9.2% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 427,368 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,180,000 after purchasing an additional 36,118 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha Family Trust bought a new position in shares of Baxter International in the first quarter worth approximately $182,000. 90.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Baxter International Stock Up 0.2%

BAX opened at $19.92 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.92. Baxter International has a twelve month low of $15.73 and a twelve month high of $31.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.35, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Baxter International Announces Dividend

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

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.