Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Raises Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 34.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,734 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 2,502 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $2,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,743,052 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $6,067,196,000 after buying an additional 184,288 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 36.1% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,219,317 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 10.8% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,843,856 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,567,654,000 after purchasing an additional 667,957 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,351,537 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,437,161,000 after purchasing an additional 66,024 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,265,638 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $967,745,000 after purchasing an additional 267,436 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BDX. Citigroup cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $217.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Raymond James Financial cut 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 target price for the company from $260.00 to $185.00 in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $192.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $219.22.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BDX traded down $2.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $178.86. 3,470,594 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,142,152. The stock has a market cap of $51.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.25. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $163.33 and a 1 year high of $251.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $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.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.07. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.99% and a net margin of 7.28%. The business had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.17 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP David Shan sold 1,166 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were 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 $783,194.25. The trade was a 20.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.