Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 84,998 Shares of Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Key Points

• Manning & Napier Advisors cut its Baxter International stake by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 84,998 shares and leaving it with 319,516 shares worth about $6.17 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed to cautious: several firms lowered targets or ratings, and MarketBeat shows an average rating of “Reduce” with a $19.91 average price target.
• Baxter beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.36 on revenue of $2.70 billion, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.01 per share payable July 1.

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX - Free Report) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 319,516 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 84,998 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of Baxter International worth $6,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BAX. Greenhaven Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Baxter International in the third quarter valued at about $143,186,000. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in Baxter International by 10.1% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 57,396,370 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,306,915,000 after acquiring an additional 5,274,750 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Baxter International by 477.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,725,251 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $32,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,547 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Baxter International by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,515,928 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $57,243,000 after purchasing an additional 615,100 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its position in Baxter International by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,200,860 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $50,114,000 after purchasing an additional 450,350 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BAX shares. Evercore lowered their price target on shares of Baxter International from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Baxter International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Baxter International from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Baxter International from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Baxter International from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $19.91.

Baxter International Stock Up 2.7%

NYSE:BAX opened at $17.97 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.73 and a twelve month high of $32.68. The company has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a PE ratio of -8.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.62. The company's 50 day moving average is $17.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.01.

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

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Baxter International's payout ratio is currently -1.88%.

Baxter International 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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