Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) saw a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,790,000 shares, a growth of 6.3% from the September 30th total of 12,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,940,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAX. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in Baxter International by 9.6% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 286,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $12,232,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the first quarter worth $2,185,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Baxter International by 7.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,206,242 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $51,553,000 after purchasing an additional 84,808 shares during the last quarter. Coho Partners Ltd. acquired a new stake in Baxter International in the 3rd quarter worth about $57,229,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 76.8% during the 1st quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 41,708 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 18,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BAX shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Baxter International from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Baxter International from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.20.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of BAX traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,117,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,043,113. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Baxter International has a 1-year low of $32.28 and a 1-year high of $44.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.29.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.02. Baxter International had a net margin of 16.51% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Baxter International will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Company Profile

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.