ORG Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 2,250.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,387 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the quarter. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,123,450 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,369,681,000 after purchasing an additional 195,931 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,065,443 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,005,994,000 after purchasing an additional 172,005 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,154,438 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $769,147,000 after purchasing an additional 19,200 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter worth $761,798,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.3% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,539,663 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $628,440,000 after purchasing an additional 105,821 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BDX. Citigroup decreased their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

NYSE:BDX traded down $2.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $234.08. 1,075,026 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,446,660. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $233.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $236.24. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $283.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $67.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.42.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. The business had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.70%.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total value of $71,793.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $472,876.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.