Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.80.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BAX shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Baxter International in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore dropped their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Baxter International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BAX. Greenhaven Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Baxter International in the 3rd quarter worth about $143,186,000. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 57,396,370 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,306,915,000 after acquiring an additional 5,274,750 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 477.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,725,251 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,547 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $257,174,000 after acquiring an additional 972,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,410,689 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $65,216,000 after acquiring an additional 894,761 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Baxter International Price Performance

BAX stock opened at $16.62 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.71. Baxter International has a 12-month low of $15.73 and a 12-month high of $32.68. The firm has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.98, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). Baxter International had a negative net margin of 8.51% and a positive return on equity of 16.95%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. Baxter International’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.850-2.050 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Baxter International will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is currently -2.16%.

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.