The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Baxter International Inc. $BAX

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 379,831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $8,098,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.07% of Baxter International as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in shares of Baxter International in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Front Street Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Baxter International during the second quarter worth $28,142,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Baxter International during the second quarter valued at about $2,135,000. Ally Financial Inc. bought a new position in Baxter International during the second quarter valued at about $2,196,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Baxter International in the second quarter worth about $402,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Baxter International from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Baxter International from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Baxter International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $17.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.45.

Baxter International Price Performance

NYSE:BAX opened at $26.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Baxter International Inc. has a one year low of $15.73 and a one year high of $30.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.54. The stock has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.62, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.60.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The business’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. Analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.93%.

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.