Investment Management Corp of Ontario Raises Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 34.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,912 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $2,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter worth $473,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 76.1% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,884 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,965,000 after acquiring an additional 9,457 shares in the last quarter. Humankind Investments LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 7,990 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 3,553 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elefante Mark B purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter worth $1,383,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BDX. Piper Sandler cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $260.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total value of $94,497.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,107.36. This trade represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.99, for a total transaction of $159,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,215,163.67. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,578 shares of company stock valued at $795,986 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of BDX stock opened at $167.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $47.93 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $208.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.92. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $163.33 and a 1-year high of $251.99.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 15.74%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.39%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.