Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BAX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Baxter International from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Baxter International from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Baxter International from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Baxter International from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Baxter International from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $21.73.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAX opened at $24.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. Baxter International has a 52 week low of $15.73 and a 52 week high of $30.00.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.19. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 9.27% and a positive return on equity of 16.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. Baxter International’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, equities analysts predict that Baxter International will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAX. CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of Baxter International by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 19,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 22.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 164,400 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,505,000 after purchasing an additional 30,510 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Baxter International by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,143 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Baxter International in the second quarter valued at approximately $161,000. 90.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Baxter International

Baxter International Inc is a global healthcare company that develops and markets products used in hospitals, outpatient facilities and other care settings. Its portfolio includes intravenous solutions and administration sets, infusion pumps, parenteral nutrition products, injectable medicines, surgical products and systems for medication preparation and delivery.

The company also provides products and technologies that support anesthesia, critical care, patient monitoring and other hospital workflows.