Cooke & Bieler LP Has $230.68 Million Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,007,087 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 1,452 shares during the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company accounts for 2.3% of Cooke & Bieler LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 0.35% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $230,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $735,523,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,126,707 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,751,187,000 after purchasing an additional 3,219,317 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 392.4% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,416,665 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $775,139,000 after purchasing an additional 2,722,829 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 810,345 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 29,654.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 744,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $170,523,000 after purchasing an additional 741,943 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, 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 transaction of $199,607.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $783,194.25. This represents a 20.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BDX traded down $2.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $178.86. The company had a trading volume of 3,470,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,142,152. The company's 50 day moving average price is $173.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $51.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 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.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Becton, Dickinson and Company's payout ratio is 79.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $192.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $217.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, William Blair downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $219.22.

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.