Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Upgraded to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Baxter International’s Q2 2026 earnings at $0.37 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.52 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.62 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $1.87 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $0.38 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $0.40 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.55 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $1.91 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $0.40 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $2.14 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BAX. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Baxter International from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Baxter International from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Baxter International from $20.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Baxter International in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.91.

Baxter International Stock Up 1.3%

BAX stock opened at $19.42 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.62. Baxter International has a 52 week low of $15.73 and a 52 week high of $32.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.75. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Baxter International will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baxter International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 32.4% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,515,928 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,243,000 after buying an additional 615,100 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International during the third quarter valued at approximately $143,186,000. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 304.7% during the third quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 398,118 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $9,065,000 after buying an additional 299,750 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 477.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,725,251 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $32,970,000 after buying an additional 1,426,547 shares during the period. Finally, Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,004,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

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.