Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 73,473 Shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 33.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 291,102 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,473 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.06% of Baxter International worth $8,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,156,660 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $460,022,000 after buying an additional 170,776 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,160,666 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $33,845,000 after buying an additional 21,592 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 22.1% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,154,616 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $43,841,000 after buying an additional 208,726 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,113,125 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,459,000 after buying an additional 13,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 148.8% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 870,601 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $25,387,000 after buying an additional 520,633 shares during the last quarter. 90.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Baxter International from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Baxter International from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Baxter International from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Baxter International in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Baxter International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.80.

Baxter International Price Performance

BAX stock opened at $33.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.46, a PEG ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Baxter International Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.33 and a 12-month high of $44.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.12.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.06. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 5.05% and a positive return on equity of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. On average, analysts expect that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is currently -53.13%.

Baxter International Profile

Baxter International Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops and provides a portfolio of healthcare products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Medical Products and Therapies, Healthcare Systems and Technologies, Pharmaceuticals, and Kidney Care. The company offers sterile intravenous (IV) solutions; infusion systems and devices; parenteral nutrition therapies; generic injectable pharmaceuticals; surgical hemostat and sealant products, advanced surgical equipment; smart bed systems; patient monitoring and diagnostic technologies; and respiratory health devices, as well as advanced equipment for the surgical space, including surgical video technologies, precision positioning devices, and other accessories.