Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

BAX has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup upgraded Baxter International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised their price target on Baxter International from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays boosted their price target 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 increased their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Baxter International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.45.

Baxter International Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE BAX opened at $26.95 on Tuesday. Baxter International has a 52 week low of $15.73 and a 52 week high of $30.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $13.93 billion, a PE ratio of -13.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.60.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.19. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 9.27% and a positive return on equity of 16.57%. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Baxter International’s 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Baxter International will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baxter International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 3.2% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,436 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,588,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Baxter International by 2.9% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 649,463 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $19,666,000 after acquiring an additional 18,439 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Baxter International by 1.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,638,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $231,304,000 after acquiring an additional 97,687 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in Baxter International by 21.4% in the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 24,356 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 4,293 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Baxter International by 5.5% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 53,933 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 2,813 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

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.