Baxter International Inc. $BAX Shares Sold by Pzena Investment Management LLC

Pzena Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,425,636 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,869,757 shares during the period. Baxter International comprises about 4.4% of Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Baxter International worth $1,498,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CX Institutional grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 2.3% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 19,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Baxter International by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 44,722 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $953,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board lifted its stake in Baxter International by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 15,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Baxter International by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,617 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Baxter International by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 18,170 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. 90.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Baxter International in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Baxter International in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Baxter International currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Baxter International Stock Performance

Shares of Baxter International stock opened at $26.36 on Thursday. Baxter International Inc. has a one year low of $15.73 and a one year high of $30.00. The company has a market cap of $13.64 billion, a PE ratio of -18.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.45.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 6.23% and a positive return on equity of 16.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 27th will be given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is currently -2.84%.

About Baxter International

Baxter International Inc is a global medical products and healthcare technology company headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. The company develops, manufactures and distributes products used in hospitals, clinics, ambulatory care centers and other healthcare settings.

Baxter’s portfolio has included intravenous therapies and administration systems, infusion pumps, connected-care technologies, surgical products, patient monitoring equipment and products used in medication preparation and delivery.