GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,080 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $1,606,000.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,558 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.7% in the 4th 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 during the period. Americana Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity
In related news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the company's 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 directly owns 4,887 shares in the company, valued at $964,107.36. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard Byrd sold 1,940 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.91, for a total transaction of $436,325.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,411 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,666,808.01. This represents a 20.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,878 shares of company stock worth $636,393. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance
NYSE BDX traded up $0.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $173.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,673,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,936,162. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $194.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.56.
Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.35 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 15.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement
The company 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 $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company's payout ratio is presently 79.39%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $279.00 to $261.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, 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 for the company. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $221.44.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Becton, Dickinson and Company
Becton, Dickinson and Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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