Cooke & Bieler LP Decreases Position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

Cooke & Bieler LP lessened its holdings in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 37.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,078,650 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,265,200 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 0.41% of Baxter International worth $80,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Baxter International by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,491,343 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $244,983,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650,959 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Baxter International by 191.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 69,606 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 45,718 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Baxter International by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,439 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the period. Carmignac Gestion raised its position in Baxter International by 467.0% in the 3rd quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 4,848,773 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $182,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,993,537 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in Baxter International by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,151,515 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $118,938,000 after purchasing an additional 30,477 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Baxter International Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BAX opened at $39.47 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.56, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Baxter International Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.01 and a 1-year high of $50.21.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. Baxter International had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Baxter International’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.30.

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.