Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 71,142 Shares of Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX - Free Report) by 22.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 248,374 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 71,142 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Baxter International were worth $4,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 60,475 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,016,000 after buying an additional 13,562 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its position in shares of Baxter International by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 258,062 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $4,542,000 after buying an additional 126,104 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its position in shares of Baxter International by 99.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 111,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,245,000 after buying an additional 55,674 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 15,968 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,410,689 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $65,216,000 after acquiring an additional 894,761 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.19% of the company's stock.

Baxter International Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of BAX stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.64. 3,102,254 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,951,147. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.62. Baxter International Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.73 and a 12-month high of $29.51. The company's 50-day moving average price is $19.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 9.70% and a positive return on equity of 16.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Baxter International's dividend payout ratio is presently -1.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on BAX shares. Citigroup lowered Baxter International from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Evercore decreased their price objective on Baxter International from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Baxter International from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Baxter International from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Baxter International from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $19.73.

Baxter International Company Profile

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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