BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,351 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 7,126 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $12,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,558 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,060 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $694,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total transaction of $94,497.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,887 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $964,107.36. This trade represents a 8.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were 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 directly owns 6,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,598,960. The trade was a 6.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,878 shares of company stock valued at $636,393. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BDX. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $196.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $221.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.94. The company had a trading volume of 593,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,927,175. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $251.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $217.87. The stock has a market cap of $49.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. 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.