Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY lowered its position in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244,565 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 5,406 shares during the period. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $12,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BAX. Pure Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Baxter International by 0.3% in the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,459 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Baxter International by 1.3% in the first quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,344 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Baxter International by 0.3% in the first quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,786 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $663,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Livingston Group Asset Management CO operating as Southport Capital Management increased its position in shares of Baxter International by 0.3% in the first quarter. Livingston Group Asset Management CO operating as Southport Capital Management now owns 18,079 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reliance Trust Co. of Delaware increased its position in shares of Baxter International by 1.1% in the first quarter. Reliance Trust Co. of Delaware now owns 5,743 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.21% of the company’s stock.
Baxter International Inc. (BAX) traded up 0.23% during trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,128,155 shares. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.61 and its 200-day moving average is $54.67. Baxter International Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.13 and a 52-week high of $63.14. The stock has a market cap of $32.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.78 and a beta of 0.66.
Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. Baxter International had a net margin of 8.85% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Baxter International Inc. will post $2.37 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 30th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Baxter International’s payout ratio is 38.79%.
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A number of research analysts have commented on BAX shares. Leerink Swann upgraded Baxter International from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Baxter International in a research note on Monday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Baxter International in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Baxter International from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Baxter International currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $65.33.
In other news, Director Carole J. Shapazian sold 3,760 shares of Baxter International stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.89, for a total value of $210,146.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,226 shares in the company, valued at $906,871.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Brik V. Eyre sold 130,732 shares of Baxter International stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $7,280,465.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,782,606.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 137,110 shares of company stock valued at $7,642,246. 0.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
About Baxter International
Baxter International Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides renal and hospital products. The Company operates through two segments: Hospital Products and Renal. Its Hospital Products business manufactures sterile intravenous (IV) solutions and administration sets, premixed drugs and drug-reconstitution systems, pre-filled vials and syringes for injectable drugs, IV nutrition products, parenteral nutrition therapies, infusion pumps, inhalation anesthetics and biosurgery products.
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