New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 12,490 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 234,888 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 12,490 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $56,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,181,483,000 after acquiring an additional 302,893 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,905,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,146,374,000 after acquiring an additional 87,230 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,031,167,000 after acquiring an additional 346,720 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,984,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $697,513,000 after acquiring an additional 89,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 688,296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:BDX opened at $236.61 on Thursday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $218.75 and a 1 year high of $259.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $68.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.12, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $237.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.05.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James decreased 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 note on Friday, August 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $282.63.

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.