Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 122,856 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $27,872,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BDX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $735,523,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 36.1% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 3,219,317 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 392.4% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,416,665 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $775,139,000 after acquiring an additional 2,722,829 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,057,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.1% during 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 buying an additional 810,345 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BDX shares. Wall Street Zen cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $196.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $260.00 to $185.00 in a report on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $221.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $173.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,403,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,931,243. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $163.33 and a one year high of $251.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $49.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. The business's fifty day moving average price is $194.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.56.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Becton, Dickinson and Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.39%.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,598,960. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total transaction of $94,497.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,887 shares in the company, valued at $964,107.36. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,878 shares of company stock worth $636,393 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Becton, Dickinson and 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.