Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 3,173 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 9.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 36,034 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,173 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $8,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter worth $761,798,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 277.3% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,936,654 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $478,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,423,353 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $314,544,000 after acquiring an additional 788,735 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the first quarter valued at about $173,692,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,031,167,000 after purchasing an additional 346,720 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of BDX stock opened at $235.54 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve month high of $269.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $234.35 and a 200 day moving average of $235.74. The stock has a market cap of $68.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its 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 net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The firm had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 83.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $274.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Raymond James lowered their price target 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. Citigroup cut their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.50.

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.