Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) Shares Sold by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 24.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,676 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 13,236 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $1,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BAX. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 286,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $12,232,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in Baxter International by 213.5% in the third 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. Coho Partners Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Baxter International in the third quarter worth about $57,229,000. Wintrust Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 76.8% during the 1st quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 41,708 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 18,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Baxter International by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 217,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $8,263,000 after acquiring an additional 17,450 shares during the period. 90.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Baxter International from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Baxter International from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Baxter International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.91.

Baxter International Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of BAX stock opened at $31.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Baxter International Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.61 and a twelve month high of $44.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.94. The stock has a market cap of $16.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.56, a PEG ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 0.60.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. Baxter International had a net margin of 0.77% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 580.03%.

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.