Bank of America Corp DE Makes New Investment in Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 6.24 million Baxter International shares worth approximately $133 million, giving it a 1.21% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 90.19% of BAX.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but has improved: the consensus rating is “Hold” with a $22.45 target price, while several firms recently raised their targets or upgraded the stock.
• Baxter exceeded quarterly expectations with $0.56 in adjusted EPS versus $0.37 forecast and $2.96 billion in revenue, up 5.3% year over year. The stock opened at $23.02, down 2.2%.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,237,950 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $132,993,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 1.21% of Baxter International at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BAX. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Baxter International in the second quarter worth approximately $9,401,000. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the second quarter worth about $5,788,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Baxter International in the second quarter worth about $5,066,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Baxter International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,748,000. Finally, EFG International AG purchased a new position in Baxter International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $67,000. 90.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BAX. Weiss Ratings upgraded Baxter International from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Baxter International from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup raised Baxter International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Baxter International from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Baxter International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Baxter International currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.45.

Baxter International Stock Down 2.2%

BAX stock opened at $23.02 on Friday. Baxter International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.73 and a fifty-two week high of $30.00. The company has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.60. The business's 50 day moving average price is $25.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.80 billion. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.57% and a negative net margin of 9.27%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.150 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. Baxter International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.93%.

Baxter International Company Profile

Baxter International Inc is a global healthcare company that develops and supplies medical products and technologies used in hospitals, outpatient facilities, physician offices and other care settings. Its offerings include intravenous therapy products and infusion systems, injectable medications and drug-compounding technologies, surgical products, patient-monitoring systems, respiratory-care equipment, and products used in hospital beds and connected-care environments.

The company serves healthcare providers and patients in numerous countries, with operations and customers across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

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