Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) Short Interest Update

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,620,000 shares, a drop of 6.8% from the March 15th total of 8,180,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Services Automobile Association lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 11,440 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,797 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. KB Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,815 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Baxter International by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BAX. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Baxter International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Baxter International from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Baxter International presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.30.

Baxter International Stock Performance

NYSE BAX traded down $0.48 on Tuesday, hitting $39.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,658,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,725,185. Baxter International has a one year low of $31.01 and a one year high of $50.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $20.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.62. The company's 50-day moving average is $41.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.38.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.02. Baxter International had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Baxter International's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Baxter International will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Baxter International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

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.