Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Sold by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 27.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,375 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 920 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 242.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,783,769 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $461,158,000 after buying an additional 1,263,391 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,927,519 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,703,041,000 after purchasing an additional 516,427 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 11.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,192,832 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,342,503,000 after purchasing an additional 512,566 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,139,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $553,121,000 after acquiring an additional 473,914 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,200,213 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,637,062,000 after purchasing an additional 435,168 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total transaction of $67,197.78. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,348.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $234.60 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $238.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.76. The firm has a market cap of $67.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.43. 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 quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.29. The business 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 was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 90.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.