Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Price Target Raised to $41.00

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $39.00 to $41.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on BAX. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Baxter International from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Baxter International in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus upgraded Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Baxter International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.56.

Baxter International Stock Performance

Shares of BAX stock opened at $34.34 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.02. Baxter International has a 52 week low of $28.34 and a 52 week high of $43.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a PE ratio of -26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.06. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 5.05% and a positive return on equity of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Baxter International will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is presently -53.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baxter International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Baxter International by 23.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Baxter International by 11.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 61,878 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,257,000 after purchasing an additional 6,168 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 213.5% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 23,192 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 15,794 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 1.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,139,074 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $43,251,000 after acquiring an additional 12,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivik Global Healthcare LLC lifted its position in Baxter International by 50.0% during the third quarter. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC now owns 150,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,696,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. 90.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Baxter International Company 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.