Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) was in 35 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. BAX has seen an increase in hedge fund interest lately. There were 33 hedge funds in our database with BAX holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In the financial world, there are tons of gauges market participants can use to track their holdings. A pair of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the market by a significant margin (see just how much).
Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the world of equities. There are lots of incentives for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the key action encompassing Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX).
How are hedge funds trading Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 35 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 6% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.
Of the funds we track, David Cohen and Harold Levy’s Iridian Asset Management had the most valuable position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX), worth close to $195.5 million, accounting for 2.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Ric Dillon of Diamond Hill Capital, with a $135.3 million position; 1.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Arthur B Cohen and Joseph Healey’s Healthcor Management LP, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
Consequently, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Healthcor Management LP, managed by Arthur B Cohen and Joseph Healey, assembled the most valuable call position in Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX). Healthcor Management LP had 109 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also initiated a $18 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Robert Emil Zoellner’s Alpine Associates, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, and SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management.
What have insiders been doing with Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX). These stocks are DENTSPLY International Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY), CareFusion Corporation (NYSE:CFN), C.R. Bard, Inc. (NYSE:BCR), Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE:BDX), and Covidien plc (NYSE:COV). This group of stocks are the members of the medical instruments & supplies industry and their market caps match BAX’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| DENTSPLY International Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY) | 11 | 0 | 4 |
| CareFusion Corporation (NYSE:CFN) | 27 | 0 | 5 |
| C.R. Bard, Inc. (NYSE:BCR) | 27 | 0 | 12 |
| Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE:BDX) | 27 | 0 | 10 |
| Covidien plc (NYSE:COV) | 31 | 0 | 13 |
With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s research, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
