Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Trims Stake in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its stake in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,554 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAX. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Baxter International by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,160,666 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $33,845,000 after purchasing an additional 21,592 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $907,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Baxter International by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,156,660 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $460,022,000 after acquiring an additional 170,776 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,359,040 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $447,870,000 after buying an additional 2,803,920 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Baxter International by 15.4% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 170,855 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,487,000 after purchasing an additional 22,787 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Baxter International Stock Performance

BAX opened at $34.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.58. Baxter International Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.34 and a 1 year high of $43.99.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.67% and a negative net margin of 5.05%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -53.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Baxter International from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Argus raised shares of Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Baxter International from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Baxter International in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Baxter International from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.56.

Baxter International Company 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.