Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, TD Cowen Analyst Says

Key Points

• TD Cowen raised Baxter International’s price target from $20 to $24 while maintaining a “hold” rating, implying about 3.33% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious overall, with two Buy, seven Hold and four Sell ratings; MarketBeat reports an average “Reduce” rating and a $20.27 target price.
• Baxter’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with adjusted EPS of $0.36 versus $0.31 forecast and revenue of $2.70 billion, up 2.9% year over year.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by research analysts at TD Cowen from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "hold" rating on the medical instruments supplier's stock. TD Cowen's price target points to a potential upside of 3.33% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on BAX. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Baxter International from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reduced their price target on shares of Baxter International from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research lowered Baxter International from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Baxter International from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup cut Baxter International from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price target for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Baxter International has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $20.27.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of Baxter International stock traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $23.23. 1,021,020 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,252,819. Baxter International has a 52 week low of $15.73 and a 52 week high of $29.35. The firm has a market cap of $12.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.92, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.44.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Baxter International will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Baxter International

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

About Baxter International

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.

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