Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $1.46 Million Position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,751 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $1,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TIAA Trust National Association increased its position in Baxter International by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 13,781 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Baxter International by 19.2% during the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 16,243 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 2,616 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Baxter International by 9.0% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 55,710 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,863,000 after buying an additional 4,579 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Baxter International during the second quarter valued at $567,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Baxter International during the 2nd quarter worth about $403,000. 90.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BAX shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Baxter International from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Baxter International from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Baxter International from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Baxter International has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.73.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAX opened at $38.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.55. The stock has a market cap of $19.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.49, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.59. Baxter International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.01 and a fifty-two week high of $44.01.

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

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Baxter International’s payout ratio is 22.31%.

About Baxter International

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.