Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Acquired by M&G Plc

M&G Plc raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 0.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 709,259 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,052 shares during the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company makes up approximately 1.0% of M&G Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. M&G Plc’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $165,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cooper Financial Group grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 30.4% in the second quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,329 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.9% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,935 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 24.1% in the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 37.2% in the second quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 37,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $8,751,000 after purchasing an additional 10,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delta Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.2% in the second quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,238 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $305.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $274.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of BDX traded up $2.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $236.28. 1,255,870 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,449,058. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $218.75 and a 52-week high of $283.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.24. The firm has a market cap of $68.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. The business had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.70%.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total transaction of $71,793.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $472,876.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total value of $71,793.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $472,876.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.73, for a total value of $781,209.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,308 shares in the company, valued at $2,676,942.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Profile

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.