Webster Bank N. A. Grows Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BDX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,095 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter worth $69,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 51,157 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,606,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 23,144 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,251,000 after buying an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BDX. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $279.00 to $261.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $185.00 in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

BDX opened at $173.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $49.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $163.33 and a 52-week high of $251.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.14.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 79.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,887 shares in the company, valued at $964,107.36. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Richard Byrd sold 1,940 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.91, for a total transaction of $436,325.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,666,808.01. This trade represents a 20.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,878 shares of company stock worth $636,393 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and 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.