Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New $14.06 Million Investment in Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 659,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $14,064,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAX. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Baxter International in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $68,036,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,510,205 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $257,174,000 after purchasing an additional 972,891 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,410,689 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $65,216,000 after purchasing an additional 894,761 shares in the last quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L purchased a new stake in Baxter International in the fourth quarter worth $8,525,000. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its stake in Baxter International by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 3,328,202 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $63,602,000 after purchasing an additional 356,612 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Baxter International Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:BAX opened at $26.37 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.74, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.60. Baxter International Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.73 and a 12-month high of $30.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.19. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.57% and a negative net margin of 9.27%.The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.150 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is -1.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Baxter International from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Baxter International from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Baxter International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.45.

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.