Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 11,041 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 11,041 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 1,930,445 shares worth about $374.6 million.
• Several analysts have trimmed price targets on BDX, and the stock currently carries a consensus Hold rating with an average target price of $184.86.
• Becton, Dickinson posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.90 and revenue of $4.71 billion, while also maintaining a quarterly dividend of $1.05 per share and announcing a stock buyback plan.

Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,930,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 11,041 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.68% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $374,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 285.3% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 131 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 133 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 64.2% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 77.8% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 160 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $184.86.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

BDX opened at $147.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.40, a PEG ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.37 and a 200 day moving average of $177.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.94. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.59 and a fifty-two week high of $187.35.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.67 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.35 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.61 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Becton, Dickinson and Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.33%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 27th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 0% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.

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