O Brien Greene & Co. Inc Grows Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,280 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company comprises 1.8% of O Brien Greene & Co. Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $5,675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tredje AP fonden increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 120.2% in the second quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 162,320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $37,936,000 after purchasing an additional 88,600 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 11.3% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 26,608 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 11.8% during the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 9,045 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,114,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.2% during the second quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,771 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.8% during the second quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 534 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BDX shares. Raymond James cut their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup dropped 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 note on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI dropped 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 note on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $274.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 1.2 %

Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $231.27 on Wednesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $269.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $66.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.94, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $235.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.57.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 83.70%.

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.