Howard Capital Management Group LLC Makes New Investment in Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Group acquired 139,949 Baxter International shares worth approximately $3.36 million in the third quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 90.19% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: one analyst rates Baxter a Buy, nine rate it Hold and three rate it Sell, resulting in a consensus “Reduce” rating and a $21.73 target price.
• Baxter’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with $0.56 in earnings per share and $2.96 billion in revenue, while shares recently traded at $25.28 after declining 1.9%.

Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 139,949 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $3,359,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Baxter International in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,744,874,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Baxter International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,392,098,000. Equity Investment Corp bought a new position in Baxter International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $146,815,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Baxter International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $132,993,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Baxter International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $68,036,000. 90.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised Baxter International from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Baxter International from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays began coverage on Baxter International in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Baxter International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Baxter International from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $21.73.

Baxter International Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of BAX traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $25.28. 4,406,428 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,822,130. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.85. Baxter International Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.73 and a 52 week high of $30.00. The company has a market cap of $13.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.21, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.65.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.19. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 9.27% and a positive return on equity of 16.57%. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. Baxter International's payout ratio is presently -1.93%.

About Baxter International

Baxter International Inc is a global healthcare company that develops and markets products used in hospitals, outpatient facilities and other care settings. Its portfolio includes intravenous solutions and administration sets, infusion pumps, parenteral nutrition products, injectable medicines, surgical products and systems for medication preparation and delivery.

The company also provides products and technologies that support anesthesia, critical care, patient monitoring and other hospital workflows.

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