Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Acquires Shares of 5,282 Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC bought a new position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 5,282 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Baxter International by 138.1% in the third quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,912 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 21,410 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in shares of Baxter International during the 3rd quarter worth $213,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International during the third quarter valued at $218,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 229.9% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 3,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First PREMIER Bank purchased a new stake in Baxter International in the third quarter worth about $25,000. 90.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BAX. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Baxter International from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered Baxter International from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Baxter International from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.00.

Baxter International Stock Performance

BAX stock traded down $0.29 during trading on Monday, reaching $36.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,593,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,116,463. The company has a market cap of $18.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.59. Baxter International Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.75 and a twelve month high of $44.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.58.

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

Baxter International Profile

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.