Gradient Investments LLC Cuts Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Gradient Investments LLC cut its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 681 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $14,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $761,798,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 277.3% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,936,654 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $478,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,423,353 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $314,544,000 after acquiring an additional 788,735 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $173,692,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 117.1% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 710,932 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $173,347,000 after buying an additional 383,485 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total value of $71,793.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $472,876.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of BDX stock traded up $2.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $236.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 917,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,447,671. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.30 billion, a PE ratio of 52.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $233.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.20. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $218.75 and a 12-month high of $283.50.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BDX. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $305.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $274.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company 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.