Baxter International Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BAX)

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 32,265 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 397% compared to the average daily volume of 6,487 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Baxter International in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Baxter International from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Baxter International from $19.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on Baxter International from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore dropped their price target on Baxter International from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Baxter International has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.10.

Baxter International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAX traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $17.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,482,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,101,030. Baxter International has a 12 month low of $17.00 and a 12 month high of $36.57. The stock has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.52, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.78.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.95% and a negative net margin of 8.51%.Baxter International’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.850-2.050 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Baxter International will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -2.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its stake in shares of Baxter International by 99.1% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 111,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 55,674 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 15,968 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,410,689 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $65,216,000 after buying an additional 894,761 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Baxter International by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 49,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $937,000 after buying an additional 2,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Baxter International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $748,000. 90.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Baxter International Company Profile

Baxter International Inc is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products, pharmaceutical therapies and biotechnology-based solutions. The company’s primary business activities are organized around renal care, medication delivery, acute therapies, pharmacy automation, surgical care and biotechnology. Baxter’s offerings are designed to support patient care in hospitals, dialysis centers, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities worldwide.

In the renal care segment, Baxter provides hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis systems, water treatment equipment and related disposables, including dialyzers, bloodlines and catheters.