Becton, Dickinson and (NYSE:BDX) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
83.2% of Becton, Dickinson and shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.5% of Intuitive Surgical shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Becton, Dickinson and shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Intuitive Surgical shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Becton, Dickinson and and Intuitive Surgical's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Becton, Dickinson and | 5.11% | 13.30% | 5.60% |
Intuitive Surgical | 24.45% | 12.08% | 10.44% |
Risk and Volatility
Becton, Dickinson and has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intuitive Surgical has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Becton, Dickinson and and Intuitive Surgical, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Becton, Dickinson and | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2.50 |
Intuitive Surgical | 3 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 2.33 |
Becton, Dickinson and currently has a consensus price target of $279.6667, indicating a potential upside of 7.46%. Intuitive Surgical has a consensus price target of $736.0588, indicating a potential downside of 2.12%. Given Becton, Dickinson and's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Becton, Dickinson and is more favorable than Intuitive Surgical.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Becton, Dickinson and and Intuitive Surgical's gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Becton, Dickinson and | $17.12 billion | 4.42 | $874 million | $10.20 | 25.51 |
Intuitive Surgical | $4.48 billion | 19.74 | $1.38 billion | $9.95 | 75.58 |
Intuitive Surgical has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Becton, Dickinson and. Becton, Dickinson and is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intuitive Surgical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Intuitive Surgical beats Becton, Dickinson and on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.