GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 29,654.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 744,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 741,943 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.26% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $170,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BDX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $6,067,196,000 after buying an additional 184,288 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 36.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.1% in 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 last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,426,022 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,004,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057,879 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $105,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,952 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,598,960. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Shan sold 1,166 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.19, for a total transaction of $199,607.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at $783,194.25. This represents a 20.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,044 shares of company stock valued at $836,000. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BDX. Bank of America lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $219.22.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

BDX traded up $0.67 on Wednesday, reaching $171.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,523,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,932,644. The business's 50-day moving average price is $190.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.85. The company has a market cap of $49.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $251.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Becton, Dickinson and Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.39%.

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.