Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Sells 3,980 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 136,669 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 3,980 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $23,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,002,802 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,414,322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,750 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,575,351 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,880,510,000 after acquiring an additional 448,644 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 10.8% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,843,856 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,567,654,000 after purchasing an additional 667,957 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,420,887 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,012,649,000 after purchasing an additional 312,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.4% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,365,509 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $577,420,000 after purchasing an additional 12,602 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on BDX. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $172.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $211.00 price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $205.40.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.4%

BDX stock opened at $185.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.97. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52 week low of $163.33 and a 52 week high of $251.99. The company has a market capitalization of $53.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.25.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 14th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.51% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business had revenue of $5.32 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, Director Claire Fraser sold 917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.50, for a total value of $171,937.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,167,375. This represents a 3.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 1,838 shares of company stock valued at $348,392 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.