First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 406 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Becton, Dickinson and Company makes up about 1.9% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $8,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BDX. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter worth about $1,295,000. Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 103,004 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $25,115,000 after purchasing an additional 22,207 shares during the period. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 16,640 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,302,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,113 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,685,000 after purchasing an additional 6,190 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 714,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $174,122,000 after purchasing an additional 7,790 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BDX shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James upped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 0.5 %

BDX stock opened at $231.55 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $239.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $241.42. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $229.40 and a fifty-two week high of $287.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $66.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.43.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 6.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total transaction of $67,197.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,348.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% 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.