Prudent Man Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Prudent Man Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 17.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,432 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 965 shares during the quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,259,750 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,575,351 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,880,510,000 after acquiring an additional 448,644 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 667,957 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 312,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 12,602 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BDX. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $172.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Argus increased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $205.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Claire Fraser sold 917 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.50, for a total value of $171,937.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 22,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,167,375. This trade represents a 3.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,838 shares of company stock valued at $348,392 in the last ninety days. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BDX opened at $185.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $163.33 and a 12 month high of $251.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $189.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.97.

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

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.