Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Shares Down 5.2% – Should You Sell?

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) fell 5.2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $21.16 and last traded at $21.4030. 702,263 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 8,458,267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BAX shares. Zacks Research upgraded Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Baxter International from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Evercore dropped their price target on shares of Baxter International from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Baxter International from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Baxter International from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $19.73.

Baxter International Stock Down 4.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.26.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 9.70% and a positive return on equity of 16.15%. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. Baxter International’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Baxter International Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baxter International

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Baxter International by 98.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 33,909 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 16,809 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Baxter International by 552.2% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,413 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 2,043 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Baxter International by 3.2% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Baxter International by 35.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,720 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in Baxter International by 0.6% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 498,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

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.