Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $57.24 Million Stock Position in Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,515,928 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 615,100 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.49% of Baxter International worth $57,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BAX. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of Baxter International in the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in Baxter International by 8.7% in the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 93,300 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Baxter International by 2.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,882,960 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $388,416,000 after buying an additional 326,652 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in shares of Baxter International by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 77,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,344,000 after buying an additional 3,588 shares during the period. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Baxter International during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. 90.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BAX. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Evercore dropped their price objective on Baxter International from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Baxter International from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Baxter International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.10.

Baxter International Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:BAX opened at $17.45 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.73. Baxter International Inc. has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $36.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.98 billion, a PE ratio of -9.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.58.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.95% and a negative net margin of 8.51%.The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.850-2.050 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is presently -2.16%.

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.