Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) Shares Sold by LSV Asset Management

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management has reduced its stake in Baxter International Inc. by 7.1% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 5.09 million shares valued at $174.36 million.
• Baxter reported a Q2 earnings per share of $0.59, missing expectations by $0.01, with revenue of $2.81 billion, slightly below the forecast of $2.82 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17, with an annualized yield of 3.1%, scheduled for distribution on October 1st.

LSV Asset Management lowered its position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,093,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 391,800 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.99% of Baxter International worth $174,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BAX. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in Baxter International by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 50,377,294 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,469,002,000 after purchasing an additional 5,779,100 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,745,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $50,904,000 after acquiring an additional 502,370 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 52.5% in the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 1,327,946 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $45,456,000 after acquiring an additional 457,345 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Baxter International by 11,821.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 387,689 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $13,271,000 after buying an additional 384,437 shares during the period. Finally, Parkwood LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International in the fourth quarter worth $10,747,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BAX shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Baxter International from $33.00 to $24.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Baxter International from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Baxter International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Baxter International presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.13.

Baxter International Trading Up 1.0%

Baxter International stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $21.97. 22,646,910 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,677,241. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a PE ratio of -73.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.59. Baxter International Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.33 and a 12-month high of $40.49.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.93% and a negative net margin of 1.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Research analysts expect that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Baxter International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -226.67%.

About Baxter International

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.