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

Key Points

• Baxter International saw unusually heavy put-option activity on Monday, with 6,446 puts purchased—about 73% above its average daily volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly neutral: the consensus rating is “Hold” with a $22.45 price target, although several firms recently raised their targets and one upgraded the stock to “Buy.”
• Baxter reported quarterly earnings and revenue above analyst expectations, while institutional investors own 90.19% of its shares. The stock traded at $26.05, down 0.3%, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.01 per share.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 6,446 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 73% compared to the average daily volume of 3,734 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Baxter International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on Baxter International from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Baxter International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Baxter International from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Baxter International from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.45.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baxter International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BAX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Baxter International in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,744,874,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Baxter International during the 2nd quarter worth $1,392,098,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Baxter International by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,510,205 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $257,174,000 after buying an additional 972,891 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Baxter International by 2,009.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,720,343 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $271,198,000 after buying an additional 12,117,222 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Baxter International by 1.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,638,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $231,304,000 after acquiring an additional 97,687 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.19% of the company's stock.

Baxter International Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BAX traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $26.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 951,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,099,886. The firm has a market cap of $13.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $24.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.54. Baxter International has a 1 year low of $15.73 and a 1 year high of $30.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.19. Baxter International had a positive return on equity of 16.57% and a negative net margin of 9.27%.The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.150 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Baxter International will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Baxter International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.93%.

About Baxter International

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.

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