The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases Shares of 379,831 Baxter International Inc. $BAX

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 379,831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $8,098,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAX. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Baxter International during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in shares of Baxter International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Baxter International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in Baxter International in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Baxter International in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BAX. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Baxter International from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Baxter International from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research raised Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Baxter International has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.45.

Baxter International Price Performance

NYSE:BAX opened at $26.13 on Monday. Baxter International Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.73 and a 1 year high of $30.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $24.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.54. The stock has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.62, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.60. 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 quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Baxter International’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.93%.

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.