New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $16.76 Million Stock Position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 14.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 441,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 74,877 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.09% of Baxter International worth $16,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAX. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Baxter International by 83.3% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 9,993 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 4,541 shares in the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 16.4% during the first quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 63,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,697,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 33.5% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 92,912 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,971,000 after purchasing an additional 23,306 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 7.7% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 111,700 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,774,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 7.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,206,242 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $51,553,000 after purchasing an additional 84,808 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Baxter International Trading Up 0.8 %

BAX opened at $36.10 on Wednesday. Baxter International Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.48 and a 1-year high of $44.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.16.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.02. Baxter International had a net margin of 16.51% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BAX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Baxter International from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Baxter International from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Baxter International from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Baxter International presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.20.

Baxter International Profile

Baxter International Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops and provides a portfolio of healthcare products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Medical Products and Therapies, Healthcare Systems and Technologies, Pharmaceuticals, and Kidney Care. The company offers sterile intravenous (IV) solutions; infusion systems and devices; parenteral nutrition therapies; generic injectable pharmaceuticals; surgical hemostat and sealant products, advanced surgical equipment; smart bed systems; patient monitoring and diagnostic technologies; and respiratory health devices, as well as advanced equipment for the surgical space, including surgical video technologies, precision positioning devices, and other accessories.