Sowell Financial Services LLC Sells 31,695 Shares of Baxter International Inc. $BAX

Sowell Financial Services LLC decreased its position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,703 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 31,695 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Baxter International in the second quarter worth about $1,392,098,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International during the second quarter worth about $30,604,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Baxter International in the second quarter worth approximately $1,744,874,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Baxter International in the second quarter worth approximately $51,958,000. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new stake in Baxter International in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,522,000. 90.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of BAX stock opened at $26.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $13.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.68. Baxter International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.73 and a fifty-two week high of $30.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $24.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.79.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.23% and a negative net margin of 6.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, November 27th will be paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 27th. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -2.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on BAX shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Baxter International in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded Baxter International from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Baxter International from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Baxter International from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Baxter International from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Baxter International presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $23.00.

Baxter International Profile

Baxter International Inc is a global medical products and healthcare technology company headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. The company develops, manufactures and distributes products used in hospitals, clinics, ambulatory care centers and other healthcare settings.

Baxter’s portfolio has included intravenous therapies and administration systems, infusion pumps, connected-care technologies, surgical products, patient monitoring equipment and products used in medication preparation and delivery.