Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) Shares Sold by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL reduced its stake in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 158,918 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 370 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $6,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rodgers Brothers Inc. grew its position in Baxter International by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 107,413 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,591,000 after purchasing an additional 6,327 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Baxter International by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,159 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International in the 1st quarter valued at about $297,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Baxter International by 42.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,676 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Poehling Capital Management INC. purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International in the 1st quarter valued at about $719,000. 90.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BAX. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Baxter International from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered Baxter International from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $39.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen lowered Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Baxter International from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.67.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of Baxter International stock traded up $0.42 on Friday, hitting $35.51. 3,470,476 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,924,809. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.11. Baxter International Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.01 and a 1-year high of $47.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Baxter International had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.31%.

Baxter International Profile

Baxter International Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops and provides a portfolio of healthcare products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Medical Products and Therapies, Healthcare Systems and Technologies, Pharmaceuticals, and Kidney Care. The company offers sterile intravenous (IV) solutions; infusion systems and devices; parenteral nutrition therapies; generic injectable pharmaceuticals; surgical hemostat and sealant products, advanced surgical equipment; smart bed systems; patient monitoring and diagnostic technologies; and respiratory health devices, as well as advanced equipment for the surgical space, including surgical video technologies, precision positioning devices, and other accessories.