PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Takes $11.20 Million Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Key Points

• PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators opened a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter, buying 57,719 shares worth about $11.2 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 86.97% of BDX stock held by institutions. Several large investors, including Vanguard and First Eagle, also increased their stakes recently.
• Analysts are cautious on the stock: the consensus rating is “Hold” with a target price of $183.64, while recent reports from TD Cowen, Piper Sandler, and Goldman Sachs lowered price targets.

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 57,719 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $11,202,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BDX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,678,939 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $7,118,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,223,149 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,872,395 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,596,496,000 after purchasing an additional 459,219 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 11,646,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,260,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,592 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,486,694 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,841,083,000 after purchasing an additional 336,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,885,361 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,331,165,000 after purchasing an additional 53,884 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on BDX shares. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Argus cut 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 report on Monday, March 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $170.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $183.64.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 1.2%

BDX stock opened at $151.33 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $127.59 and a one year high of $187.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.70 billion, a PE ratio of 38.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of $150.72 and a 200-day moving average of $175.54.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.35 EPS. The business's revenue 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. As a group, analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.61 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $404,511.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,163 shares in the company, valued at $16,122,355.05. The trade was a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 2,913 shares of company stock valued at $426,806 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

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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