D.A. Davidson & CO. Boosts Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Key Points

• D.A. Davidson & Co. increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.5% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 73,877 shares valued at about $11.6 million.
• Analysts remain mixed on BDX: the stock has a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $180.29, though several firms have recently cut or adjusted their targets.
• Becton, Dickinson reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $2.90 per share on $4.71 billion in revenue, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.05 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 2.6%.

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 13.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,877 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 8,783 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $11,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 20.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,977 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,827,000 after buying an additional 1,354 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,149 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 365.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 31,876 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $5,491,000 after acquiring an additional 25,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 34.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,501 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $4,048,000 after acquiring an additional 6,058 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $230.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $180.29.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of BDX stock opened at $159.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $44.05 billion, a PE ratio of 40.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a 50-day moving average of $148.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.44. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $127.59 and a 1-year high of $187.35.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.13. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.62 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Becton, Dickinson and Company's payout ratio is presently 106.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,100 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.66, for a total value of $160,226.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,918,633.52. The trade was a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $404,511.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,163 shares in the company, valued at $16,122,355.05. This represents a 2.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,188 shares of company stock worth $765,120. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. BD's products are used by healthcare institutions, clinical laboratories, life science researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to enable safe, effective delivery of care, specimen collection and diagnostic testing. The company's operations span multiple business areas focused on medical devices, life sciences research tools and interventional technologies.

BD's product portfolio includes single-use medical devices such as syringes, needles, needlesafety and injection systems, infusion therapy and medication management solutions, as well as vascular access, urology and oncology devices acquired through its interventional business.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.