Short Interest in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) Drops By 8.9%

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 12,030,000 shares, a decline of 8.9% from the September 15th total of 13,200,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Baxter International in the third quarter worth about $218,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in shares of Baxter International by 229.9% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 3,308 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank bought a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Baxter International by 6.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,517 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Baxter International by 8.7% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 217,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,263,000 after purchasing an additional 17,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BAX. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Baxter International from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Baxter International from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Baxter International from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered Baxter International from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Baxter International from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Baxter International Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BAX traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $36.65. The company had a trading volume of 3,868,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,139,624. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.72. Baxter International has a one year low of $31.66 and a one year high of $44.01. The stock has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

About Baxter International

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.