Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Zacks Research lowered shares of Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore decreased their target price on shares of Baxter International from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Baxter International from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Baxter International from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $19.73.

Baxter International Stock Down 3.4%

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

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

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baxter International

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Baxter International by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,436 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Baxter International by 2.9% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 649,463 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $19,666,000 after acquiring an additional 18,439 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Baxter International by 1.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,638,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $231,304,000 after acquiring an additional 97,687 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in Baxter International by 21.4% in the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 24,356 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 4,293 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 5.5% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 53,933 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 2,813 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

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.