Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Sells 2,774 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. has reduced its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 58.4%, holding 1,978 shares valued at $453,000.
• Multiple analysts have recently changed their ratings, with William Blair downgrading the stock from "outperform" to "market perform" and Citigroup lowering its price target from $217 to $185.
• Becton, Dickinson reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.68, beating expectations of $3.40 and showing a revenue increase of 10.4% year-over-year.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 58.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,978 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 2,774 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 180,948 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $41,448,000 after acquiring an additional 13,687 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the first quarter valued at about $689,833,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the first quarter worth about $31,225,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23.9% in the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 352 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.1% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,257 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BDX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. William Blair cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $261.00 to $241.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $211.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:BDX traded up $2.9210 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $199.5510. The company's stock had a trading volume of 887,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,645,624. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $180.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.89. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $163.33 and a 1 year high of $251.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $57.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.20.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.28. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 7.51%.The company had revenue of $5.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.300-14.450 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Becton, Dickinson and Company's dividend payout ratio is 74.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, Director Claire Fraser sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.30, for a total transaction of $165,954.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,450,398.90. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Shan sold 1,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.19, for a total value of $199,607.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $783,194.25. This represents a 20.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,214 shares of company stock valued at $579,206. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.