Pzena Investment Management LLC Takes $1.39 Billion Position in Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 65,295,393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,392,098,000. Baxter International makes up approximately 4.1% of Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned approximately 12.63% of Baxter International at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Baxter International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in shares of Baxter International during the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Baxter International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 552.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,413 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,043 shares in the last quarter. 90.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BAX. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Baxter International from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Baxter International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Baxter International from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.45.

Baxter International Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE:BAX opened at $25.89 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.15 and its 200 day moving average is $20.18. Baxter International Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.73 and a 12-month high of $30.00. The stock has a market cap of $13.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.51, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.19. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.57% and a negative net margin of 9.27%.The business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Baxter International’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1.93%.

Baxter International 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.