Texas Bank & Trust Co Buys New Shares in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Texas Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,202 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $500,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BDX. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,429 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 97.7% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,788 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Finally, Somerset Trust Co lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 15,497 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $3,516,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $105,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,598,960. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total value of $94,497.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,887 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $964,107.36. The trade was a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,878 shares of company stock worth $636,393 over the last ninety days. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on BDX. Raymond James lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $192.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $231.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 1.9%

BDX traded down $3.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $173.25. 2,633,246 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,924,245. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $49.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.78, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $201.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.01.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.17 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Becton, Dickinson and Company's payout ratio is presently 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.