Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Cuts Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lowered its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 76.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,226 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 17,030 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA's holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter worth about $735,523,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,126,707 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,751,187,000 after acquiring an additional 3,219,317 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 392.4% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,416,665 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $775,139,000 after acquiring an additional 2,722,829 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,426,022 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,004,132,000 after buying an additional 1,057,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,175,899 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,401,126,000 after buying an additional 810,345 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.5%

BDX stock traded up $0.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $170.83. The company had a trading volume of 3,070,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,034,779. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.25. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $163.33 and a 52-week high of $251.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.07. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 15.99%. The company had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.17 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $261.00 to $241.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Citigroup cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $217.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $219.22.

Insider Activity

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP David Shan sold 1,166 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.19, for a total transaction of $199,607.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $783,194.25. This trade represents a 20.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total transaction of $94,497.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,887 shares of the company's stock, valued at $964,107.36. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

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.