Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 96,959 Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 96,959 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $2,135,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,392,098,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,604,000. AMG National Trust Bank acquired a new position in Baxter International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,522,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Baxter International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,744,874,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in Baxter International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,958,000. 90.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAX shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Baxter International from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays increased their target price on Baxter International from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Baxter International from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Baxter International from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Baxter International from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.45.

Baxter International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAX opened at $26.27 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $23.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.45. Baxter International Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.73 and a 12-month high of $30.00. The firm has a market cap of $13.58 billion, a PE ratio of -12.69, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 9.27% and a positive return on equity of 16.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.150 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is -1.93%.

About Baxter International

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.