Court Place Advisors LLC Sells 675 Shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

Court Place Advisors LLC decreased its position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,693 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 675 shares during the quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BAX. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Baxter International by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,156,660 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $460,022,000 after purchasing an additional 170,776 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 15,794 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Baxter International by 15.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC lifted its holdings in Baxter International by 50.0% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Coho Partners Ltd. purchased a new position in Baxter International in the third quarter worth $57,229,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BAX. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Baxter International from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.45.

Baxter International Stock Performance

NYSE BAX opened at $33.46 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.97 and its 200-day moving average is $34.64. The firm has a market cap of $17.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 167.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.59. Baxter International Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.33 and a 12-month high of $44.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. Baxter International had a net margin of 0.77% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The business 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 firm posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Baxter International Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.