Anchor Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

Anchor Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,420 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 550 shares during the quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BAX. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Baxter International by 213.5% in the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 23,192 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 15,794 shares in the last quarter. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $5,696,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,156,660 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $460,022,000 after buying an additional 170,776 shares in the last quarter. Coho Partners Ltd. acquired a new position in Baxter International during the third quarter worth $57,229,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Baxter International by 8.7% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 217,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,263,000 after acquiring an additional 17,450 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on BAX shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Baxter International from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.45.

Baxter International Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of BAX opened at $30.32 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.06 and a 1-year high of $44.01. The stock has a market cap of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 151.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.39.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released 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 return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 0.77%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Baxter International’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Baxter International Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Baxter International’s payout ratio is 340.02%.

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.