First National Advisers LLC Invests $272,000 in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

First National Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 1,187 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BDX. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,751,187,000 after buying an additional 3,219,317 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 392.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.1% during 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 29,654.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 744,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $170,523,000 after buying an additional 741,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter worth $99,627,000. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BDX. William Blair downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $196.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America downgraded 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. Citigroup downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $219.22.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $185.52 on Monday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $163.33 and a one year 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’s 50-day moving average is $174.31 and its 200 day moving average is $202.31. The firm has a market cap of $53.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

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