Jose (Joe) Almeida (Insider Trades), CEO and chairman of the board of Baxter International Inc. (BAX), acquired 11,691 shares of the company on May 23.
The average price per share was $42.75 for a total transaction of $499,790. Baxter International is a worldwide health care company that provides renal and medical products, including intravenous (IV) solutions, systems and administrative sets, IV infusion parenteral nutrition, perioperative care and home and in-center dialysis. The company has a market cap of $24.20 billion and a P/S ratio of 2.37.
There were no insider buys of Baxter International in 2013 and 2015; however there was one insider purchase totaling 696 shares of the company in 2014. The number of insider sells per year decreased in number and volume from 2013 to 2105, and increased again in 2016. Almeida’s aforementioned transaction of 11,691 shares is the sole insider buy with the company and his only transaction with the company to date. Baxter International Director John Forsyth (Insider Trades) sold 1,887 shares of the company 21 days prior to Almeida’s transaction. The average per share price was $44.38. The increase in insider purchases of Baxter International corresponds to a decrease in month-end price in May. 
For more information about insider transactions with Baxter International, click here.
The company reported net sales of $2.375 billion in the first quarter ended on March 31. This is down 1% from net sales of $2.403 billion in the previous year’s first quarter. Net income increased from $430 million, or 78 cents per share, to $3.380 billion, or $6.12 per share, in the same period of time. Almeida commented that the company is “off to a strong start in 2016 with first-quarter results exceeding [the company’s] expectations.” The company also announced a 13% increase in quarterly dividend rate to 13 cents per share. The dividend is payable July 1 to shareholders of record as of June 3. Annual revenue and annual net income decreased by 5.16% and 1.87%. Both annual revenue and annual net income follow an increasing trend line. 
Also, on May 17, the company declared the final exchange ratio with its offer to exchange 13,360,527 shares of common stock of Baxalta Incorporated (BXLT) that are currently owned by Baxter for shares of Baxter common stock.
According to GuruFocus.com information, Baxter International has a business predictability rank of 3 out of 5 stars. For more information about business predictability rank, click here.
Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) increased his stake in the first quarter of 2016, after previously selling out all shares of the company in the second quarter of 2015. Greenblatt acquired 1,695,068 shares of the company at an average per share price of $38.04. Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio) sold out all 5,709,178 shares at an average per share price of $38.04. The total estimated gain of the holding since the third quarter of 2015 is -2%. For more information about guru transactions with Baxter International, click here.
For more stock trades of gurus in real time, visit GuruFocus’ Real Time Picks, a Premium Feature.
Start a free seven-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus.
