Howard Capital Management Group LLC Makes New Investment in Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 139,949 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $3,359,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the 2nd quarter worth $1,744,874,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,392,098,000. Equity Investment Corp bought a new position in Baxter International during the second quarter valued at about $146,815,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Baxter International during the second quarter valued at about $132,993,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Baxter International during the second quarter valued at about $68,036,000. 90.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BAX. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Baxter International from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $21.73.

Baxter International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAX traded down $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.28. 4,406,428 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,822,130. Baxter International Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.73 and a 52-week high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.98 and a 200-day moving average of $21.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.93%.

About Baxter International

Baxter International Inc is a global healthcare company that develops and markets products used in hospitals, outpatient facilities and other care settings. Its portfolio includes intravenous solutions and administration sets, infusion pumps, parenteral nutrition products, injectable medicines, surgical products and systems for medication preparation and delivery.

The company also provides products and technologies that support anesthesia, critical care, patient monitoring and other hospital workflows.