Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Bought by Carnegie Investment Counsel

Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 38.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,929 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter worth $735,523,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 36.1% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,219,317 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 392.4% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,416,665 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $775,139,000 after purchasing an additional 2,722,829 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.1% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 29,654.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 744,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $170,523,000 after acquiring an additional 741,943 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE BDX opened at $185.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $174.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.75. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $163.33 and a 12 month high of $251.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.25.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.35 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 15.99%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BDX. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $217.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America cut 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 research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $196.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.22.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP David Shan sold 1,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.19, for a total transaction of $199,607.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,575 shares in the company, valued at $783,194.25. This represents a 20.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.29, for a total transaction of $213,643.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,887 shares in the company, valued at $881,077.23. This trade represents a 19.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.