Baxter International Inc. $BAX Shares Purchased by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) by 276.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 137,400 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 100,875 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Baxter International were worth $2,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the second quarter worth $1,744,874,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baxter International in the second quarter worth about $1,392,098,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Baxter International by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,510,205 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $257,174,000 after acquiring an additional 972,891 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Baxter International by 1.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,638,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $231,304,000 after acquiring an additional 97,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp purchased a new stake in Baxter International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $146,815,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Citigroup upgraded Baxter International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $17.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Baxter International from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Baxter International from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Baxter International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.45.

Baxter International Stock Performance

NYSE:BAX opened at $24.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.68, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.82. Baxter International Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.73 and a 1-year high of $30.00.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 9.27% and a positive return on equity of 16.57%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.150 EPS. Analysts forecast that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.93%.

Key Baxter International News

Here are the key news stories impacting Baxter International this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raises multiple EPS forecasts: Zacks Research increased its FY2026 estimate to $2.06 from $2.02, FY2027 to $2.07 from $2.00, and FY2028 to $2.15 from $2.11. It also raised estimates for several upcoming quarters, including Q3 2026 to $0.53, Q1 2027 to $0.45, Q2 2027 to $0.50, Q4 2027 to $0.59, and Q4 2026 to $0.62. The revisions suggest somewhat stronger expected earnings momentum for Baxter’s medical-products business. Baxter International analyst estimate revisions
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst stance remains cautious: Despite the higher forecasts, Zacks Research maintains a “Hold” rating. Its current full-year consensus estimate is $2.04 per share, meaning the revisions are positive but relatively modest and have not yet triggered a more bullish recommendation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Healthcare conference presentation: Baxter presented at the Wells Fargo 21st Annual Healthcare Conference. The available report is a transcript, but the supplied information does not identify a new financial outlook, major contract, or other specific catalyst from the event. Wells Fargo healthcare conference transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Trading and technical pressure: Reports said BAX underperformed its competitors and that technical signals pointed to limited near-term upside. The stock was recently below its 50-day moving average, reinforcing a cautious short-term trading picture, although it remained above its 200-day average. Baxter technical signals report Baxter underperformance report

Baxter International Profile

Baxter International Inc is a global healthcare company that develops and supplies medical products and technologies used in hospitals, outpatient facilities, physician offices and other care settings. Its offerings include intravenous therapy products and infusion systems, injectable medications and drug-compounding technologies, surgical products, patient-monitoring systems, respiratory-care equipment, and products used in hospital beds and connected-care environments.

The company serves healthcare providers and patients in numerous countries, with operations and customers across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.