Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC cut its Becton, Dickinson stake by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,041 shares and leaving it with 35,756 shares valued at about $6.94 million.
• Becton, Dickinson beat earnings expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting $2.90 EPS on revenue of $4.71 billion, while revenue rose 5.2% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $184.86; the stock also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.05 per share, yielding about 2.9%.

Rathbones Group PLC lowered its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 35,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 10,041 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $6,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,678,939 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $7,118,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,223,149 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,872,395 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,596,496,000 after acquiring an additional 459,219 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 11,646,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,260,139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,592 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,486,694 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,841,083,000 after acquiring an additional 336,110 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9,056.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,232,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $979,290,000 after acquiring an additional 5,174,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BDX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $184.86.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.3%

BDX opened at $146.45 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $127.59 and a twelve month high of $187.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $153.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.28. The company has a market cap of $40.35 billion, a PE ratio of 37.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 0.22.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.13. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.35 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 27th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to buy up to 0% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.33%.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.

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