Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. Sells 60 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. reduced its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 738 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BDX. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 58,880 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $14,196,000 after acquiring an additional 3,808 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 27.2% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 41.9% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exeter Financial LLC purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total transaction of $990,787.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,380,488.45. This trade represents a 15.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Shan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,741 shares in the company, valued at $1,377,840. This trade represents a 8.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,844 shares of company stock valued at $2,210,716. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BDX opened at $242.01 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $218.75 and a 12-month high of $251.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $230.97 and a 200 day moving average of $233.94.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.03%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.