Hall Laurie J Trustee Trims Stock Position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

Hall Laurie J Trustee trimmed its holdings in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,982 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 650 shares during the quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Baxter International by 1.4% during the 3rd 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 period. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Baxter International by 213.5% during the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 23,192 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $881,000 after buying an additional 15,794 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Baxter International by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 170,855 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,487,000 after acquiring an additional 22,787 shares during the period. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC increased its holdings in Baxter International by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC now owns 150,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,696,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coho Partners Ltd. bought a new stake in Baxter International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,229,000. 90.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Baxter International from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Baxter International from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.45.

Baxter International Stock Performance

NYSE:BAX opened at $30.99 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.94, a PEG ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 0.59. Baxter International Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.33 and a 1 year high of $44.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. Baxter International had a net margin of 0.77% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Baxter International’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Baxter International’s payout ratio is 340.00%.

About Baxter International

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.