Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Baxter International (NYSE:BAX)

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 32,577 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 249% compared to the average volume of 9,335 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAX has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Baxter International from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Baxter International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Baxter International from $25.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Baxter International from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Baxter International from $33.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $23.70.

Baxter International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAX traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,084,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,831,981. Baxter International has a 1 year low of $17.40 and a 1 year high of $37.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.73. The company has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of -60.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.57.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.09. Baxter International had a negative net margin of 1.42% and a positive return on equity of 16.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Baxter International has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.520-0.570 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 2.350-2.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Baxter International will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baxter International Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio is currently -6.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAX. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Baxter International by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,438 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Baxter International by 169.6% during the second quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 984 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its position in Baxter International by 2.0% during the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 31,739 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 636 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Baxter International by 14.4% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Baxter International by 3.4% in the first quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 21,164 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $724,000 after buying an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

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.