Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC Has $1.37 Million Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC cut its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,985 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 319 shares during the period. Becton, Dickinson and Company comprises approximately 1.5% of Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 877 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,406,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 50.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 82,110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $18,808,000 after purchasing an additional 27,581 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,047 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $224,000. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BDX. Citigroup downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $217.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $260.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $261.00 to $241.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.22.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

BDX opened at $168.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $48.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $179.58 and a 200 day moving average of $211.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.13. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $163.33 and a fifty-two week high of $251.99.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly 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. 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 7.28% and a return on equity of 15.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,107.36. This trade represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Shan sold 1,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.19, for a total transaction of $199,607.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,575 shares in the company, valued at $783,194.25. This represents a 20.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.