Gabelli Funds LLC Increases Holdings in Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in Baxter International by 44.8%, acquiring an additional 147,500 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total to 476,700 shares valued at approximately $16.3 million.
• Several other hedge funds also enhanced their positions in Baxter, with GAMMA Investing LLC notably raising its stake by 11,821.6%, totaling 387,689 shares.
• Analysts have reduced their price targets for Baxter International, with Citigroup lowering its objective from $34.00 to $32.00, indicating a general sentiment of caution among analysts towards the stock.

Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX - Free Report) by 44.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 476,700 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 147,500 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.09% of Baxter International worth $16,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BAX. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of Baxter International by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 51,458,925 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,761,439,000 after buying an additional 1,081,631 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 457,345 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Baxter International by 11,821.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 387,689 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $13,271,000 after purchasing an additional 384,437 shares during the period. Parkwood LLC purchased a new stake in Baxter International in the 4th quarter worth about $10,747,000. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT raised its position in Baxter International by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,825,902 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $96,731,000 after purchasing an additional 341,321 shares during the period. 90.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $35.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Baxter International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down from $36.00) on shares of Baxter International in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.11.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of BAX stock opened at $24.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The company has a market capitalization of $12.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -81.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $27.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.08. Baxter International Inc. has a one year low of $21.33 and a one year high of $40.49.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.96% and a negative net margin of 1.42%.Baxter International's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. Baxter International has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.580-0.620 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 2.420-2.520 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Baxter International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.

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