Shapiro Capital Management LLC Acquires 541,575 Shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

Shapiro Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 19.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,285,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 541,575 shares during the quarter. Baxter International makes up 3.3% of Shapiro Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Shapiro Capital Management LLC owned 0.64% of Baxter International worth $109,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of Baxter International by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,069 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 43,751 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Baxter International by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,759 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp increased its stake in Baxter International by 20.8% during the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAX has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Baxter International from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Baxter International from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com raised Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Baxter International from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.73.

Baxter International Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE BAX opened at $39.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Baxter International Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.01 and a 12 month high of $44.01.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.75 billion. Baxter International had a net margin of 16.51% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Baxter International’s payout ratio is 22.31%.

Baxter International Profile

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.