Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) Position Decreased by Anchor Investment Management LLC

Anchor Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,970 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,090 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BAX. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,894 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 357.4% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 57,934 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 45,268 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 133.5% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 65,277 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 37,327 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 51,090 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after purchasing an additional 13,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,870 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Baxter International from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Baxter International from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.00.

Baxter International Price Performance

NYSE BAX opened at $36.33 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.59. Baxter International Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.01 and a 52-week high of $44.01.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. Baxter International had a net margin of 16.51% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Baxter International’s payout ratio is presently 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.