Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.04

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 1.04 per share by the medical instruments supplier on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company has raised its dividend by an average of 5.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 35 consecutive years. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a payout ratio of 26.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Becton, Dickinson and Company to earn $15.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.5%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $249.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.43 billion, a PE ratio of 42.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.46. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $250.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total transaction of $990,787.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,380,488.45. This trade represents a 15.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Shana Carol Neal sold 788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $185,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,807,235. This represents a 4.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,844 shares of company stock worth $2,210,716. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BDX. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.