Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

BAX has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Baxter International from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup lowered Baxter International from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Evercore reduced their price target on Baxter International from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Baxter International from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Baxter International from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $19.73.

Baxter International Price Performance

Baxter International stock opened at $21.80 on Monday. Baxter International has a 12-month low of $15.73 and a 12-month high of $29.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 9.70% and a positive return on equity of 16.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Baxter International will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baxter International

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 98.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 33,909 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 16,809 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 552.2% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,413 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 2,043 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Baxter International by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,720 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 1,763 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Baxter International by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 498,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,366,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

About Baxter International

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.