132,189 Shares of Baxter International Inc. $BAX Acquired by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 132,189 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $3,173,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Baxter International by 2.3% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 19,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Baxter International by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 44,722 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board lifted its position in Baxter International by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 15,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Baxter International by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,617 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Baxter International by 3.5% during the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 18,170 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 608 shares during the period. 90.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Baxter International Price Performance

NYSE:BAX traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $25.73. 6,194,614 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,856,994. The stock has a market cap of $13.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $24.50 and its 200-day moving average is $21.51. Baxter International Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.73 and a 1-year high of $30.00.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last issued 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. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 6.23% and a positive return on equity of 16.23%. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Baxter International Inc. will post 2.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of Baxter International in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Baxter International from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Baxter International in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

About Baxter International

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.