Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY Sells 10,485 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY reduced its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 428,115 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 10,485 shares during the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company comprises about 1.6% of Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY owned 0.15% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $97,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,743,052 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $6,067,196,000 after purchasing an additional 184,288 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 3,219,317 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,351,537 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,437,161,000 after buying an additional 66,024 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.1% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 810,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,426,022 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,004,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057,879 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $105,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,598,960. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total value of $94,497.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,107.36. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,878 shares of company stock worth $636,393. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $192.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $260.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $221.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.7%

Becton, Dickinson and Company stock traded down $1.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $172.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,358,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,938,863. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $193.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $217.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $163.33 and a 12 month high of $251.99. The stock has a market cap of $49.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 8.47%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.39%.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.