L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Sells 7,011 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP lessened its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 59.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,863 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 7,011 shares during the quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,308,749 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,565,182,000 after acquiring an additional 4,305,947 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 59.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 8,786,190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,513,421,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268,478 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,514,446 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,466,613,000 after buying an additional 1,670,590 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,723,702 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,153,157,000 after buying an additional 244,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $653,377,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 629 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.03, for a total transaction of $123,302.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,568,973.15. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.58, for a total value of $38,317.86. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 35,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,324,389.28. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 1,036 shares of company stock valued at $197,225 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.5%

BDX opened at $195.72 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $162.29 and a one year high of $251.99.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 14th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 16.42% and a net margin of 7.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.32 billion for the quarter. Analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.04. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $224.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Argus raised their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $205.64.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. BD’s products are used by healthcare institutions, clinical laboratories, life science researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to enable safe, effective delivery of care, specimen collection and diagnostic testing. The company’s operations span multiple business areas focused on medical devices, life sciences research tools and interventional technologies.

BD’s product portfolio includes single-use medical devices such as syringes, needles, needlesafety and injection systems, infusion therapy and medication management solutions, as well as vascular access, urology and oncology devices acquired through its interventional business.