Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

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 morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

BAX has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Baxter International from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $21.73.

Baxter International Price Performance

Baxter International stock opened at $24.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.95, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.65. Baxter International has a 1 year low of $15.73 and a 1 year high of $30.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $25.17 and a 200-day moving average of $21.65. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. Baxter International’s revenue for the quarter 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 anticipate that Baxter International will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baxter International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Baxter International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,744,874,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Baxter International during the second quarter worth about $1,392,098,000. Equity Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of Baxter International during the second quarter worth about $146,815,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Baxter International during the second quarter worth about $132,993,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Baxter International during the second quarter worth about $68,036,000. 90.19% of the stock is 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.