Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Sold by West Coast Financial LLC

West Coast Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 10.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,435 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 385 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $735,523,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,126,707 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,751,187,000 after buying an additional 3,219,317 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 392.4% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,416,665 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $775,139,000 after buying an additional 2,722,829 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,057,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position 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 buying an additional 810,345 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $196.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $185.00 in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $219.22.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:BDX opened at $170.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $163.33 and a fifty-two week high of $251.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $188.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.18. The stock has a market cap of $48.93 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.25.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.07. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 8.47%. The company had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 79.39%.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 1,940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.91, for a total value 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 approximately $1,666,808.01. The trade was a 20.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David Shan sold 1,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.19, for a total value of $199,607.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $783,194.25. The trade was a 20.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,044 shares of company stock valued at $836,000. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.