Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Decreases Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lessened its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,622 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 123 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the second quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 96.0% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 196 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BDX opened at $236.50 on Monday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $262.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a market cap of $68.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.09, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $236.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $235.30.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 83.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. 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. StockNews.com upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $282.63.

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.