Focus Partners Wealth Has $7.93 Million Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Focus Partners Wealth trimmed its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,933 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 6,591 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $7,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,558 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,060 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BDX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. William Blair lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $279.00 to $261.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $231.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 1.8%

BDX traded up $3.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $175.37. 2,253,035 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,907,136. The company has a market cap of $50.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $203.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $163.33 and a one year high of $251.99.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 15.74%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company's dividend payout ratio is 79.39%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $105,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $964,107.36. The trade was a 8.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,878 shares of company stock valued at $636,393 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.