Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Baxter International (NYSE:BAX – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Baxter International from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Baxter International from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Baxter International in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Baxter International currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Baxter International

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of Baxter International stock opened at $24.15 on Friday. Baxter International has a twelve month low of $15.73 and a twelve month high of $30.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.65.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.06. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 9.27% and a positive return on equity of 16.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Baxter International will post 2.10 EPS for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 27th will be issued 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 -2.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Baxter International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Baxter International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,744,874,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Baxter International in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,392,098,000. Equity Investment Corp bought a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the second quarter worth $146,815,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the second quarter worth $132,993,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the second quarter worth $68,036,000. 90.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Baxter International

(Get Free Report)

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.

Recommended Stories

Analyst Recommendations for Baxter International (NYSE:BAX)

Receive News & Ratings for Baxter International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Baxter International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.