Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Bought by SevenBridge Financial Group LLC

SevenBridge Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 2.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,627 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 310 shares during the quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $2,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $720,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,723 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $314,544,000 after buying an additional 788,735 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $655,149,000 after buying an additional 688,296 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,365,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,293,635,000 after buying an additional 460,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter worth $108,243,000. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX stock opened at $224.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $64.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $235.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.54. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $249.89.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.00.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

Becton, Dickinson and Company develops, manufactures, and sells medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products for healthcare institutions, physicians, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical industry, and the general public worldwide. The company operates in three segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional.