Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Sells 181 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. trimmed its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,068 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,743,052 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,067,196,000 after acquiring an additional 184,288 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,126,707 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,751,187,000 after purchasing an additional 3,219,317 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,351,537 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,437,161,000 after purchasing an additional 66,024 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,175,899 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,401,126,000 after purchasing an additional 810,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,426,022 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,004,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057,879 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX stock opened at $176.72 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $201.75 and a 200 day moving average of $220.01. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $163.33 and a 1 year high of $251.99. 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 capitalization of $50.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 79.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $105,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,598,960. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total transaction of $94,497.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,878 shares of company stock valued at $636,393 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BDX. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $196.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $231.44.

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.