Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Price Target Lowered to $19.00 at Citigroup

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Citigroup from $21.00 to $19.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 5.38% from the stock’s previous close.

BAX has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore cut their price objective on Baxter International from $24.00 to $23.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Baxter International from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Baxter International in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.90.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAX traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.03. 3,642,869 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,121,023. Baxter International has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $35.77. The firm has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a PE ratio of -9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.95% and a negative net margin of 8.51%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.850-2.050 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Baxter International will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAX. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 55,674 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Baxter International by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 15,968 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Baxter International by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,410,689 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $65,216,000 after purchasing an additional 894,761 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 49,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 2,496 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $748,000. 90.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.