United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Invests $619,000 in Baxter International Inc. $BAX

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 29,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $619,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BAX. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Baxter International in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,392,098,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,604,000. AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,522,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the 2nd quarter worth $1,744,874,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Baxter International in the second quarter worth $51,958,000. 90.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAX opened at $26.08 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $13.48 billion, a PE ratio of -12.60, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day moving average is $24.37 and its 200 day moving average is $20.57. Baxter International Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.73 and a 52 week high of $30.00.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.150 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BAX. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Baxter International from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Baxter International from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Citigroup upgraded Baxter International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Baxter International from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Baxter International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.45.

About Baxter International

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.