Should You Increase Your Holdings in Baxter International (BAX)?

Broyhill Asset Management, an investment management company, released a second-quarter 2024, investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Despite gains in global markets, the Broyhill Equity portfolio declined in the second quarter. As the gap in market leadership grew, the fund underperformed. That doesn’t make it any easier to take and isn’t an excuse. At the end of the quarter, the top five investments made up almost 50% of the equity portfolio. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.

Broyhill Asset Management highlighted stocks like Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) develops and provides healthcare products. The one-month return of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) was 11.15%, and its shares gained 3.34% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 16, 2024, Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) stock closed at $40.26 per share with a market capitalization of $20.54 billion.

Broyhill Asset Management stated the following regarding Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) is a global healthcare company specializing in critical-care products, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology solutions that enhance patient outcomes across hospitals and clinics worldwide. The company’s shares slid 12% during the quarter before rallying 7% in July and jumping 7% after reporting earnings in August. We thought the results demonstrated the durability of Baxter’s portfolio and confidence in the organic growth trajectory of its underlying business segments. Despite the broad-based outperformance, increased guidance across the board, easing supply chain constraints, accelerating sales of its recently approved infusion platform, and the recently announced sale of its kidney care segment, consensus remains unimpressed and comfortably in “show-me” mode until the separation is finalized. At less than 12x FY25 earnings estimates, we are happy to accumulate shares and significantly increased our position during the quarter. Once it becomes obvious that Baxter’s core business segments can generate 4% – 5% organic growth, we doubt the stock will continue to trade at half the market’s multiple as peers trade closer to 20x earnings.”

Patients connected to dialysis machines in a hospital ward, highlighting the company’s dialysis and intravenous therapies.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 40 hedge fund portfolios held Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) at the end of the second quarter which was 46 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter, Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) reported $3.8 billion in global sales, up 3% on a reported basis and 4% on a constant currency basis. While we acknowledge the potential of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we discussed Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) and shared Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.