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

Shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus downgraded Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Baxter International in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $25.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Baxter International from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baxter International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAX. Amundi lifted its stake in Baxter International by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,444,705 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $45,292,000 after purchasing an additional 125,431 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 10.4% in the second quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,651,542 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $50,009,000 after purchasing an additional 155,415 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in Baxter International by 20.6% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 574,700 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $17,402,000 after buying an additional 98,000 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH lifted its position in Baxter International by 2,691.4% during the second quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 219,512 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,647,000 after buying an additional 211,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in Baxter International during the first quarter worth $356,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Baxter International Trading Up 2.0%

BAX stock opened at $19.50 on Monday. Baxter International has a 52-week low of $17.40 and a 52-week high of $37.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.54, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.09.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 17.38% and a negative net margin of 3.09%.Baxter International’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. Baxter International has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.520-0.570 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 2.350-2.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Baxter International will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Cuts Dividend

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

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.