CoreFirst Bank & Trust Acquires Shares of 222 Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 222 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 208 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $105,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,952 shares in the company, valued at $1,598,960. This represents a 6.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Shana Carol Neal sold 788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 16,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,807,235. The trade was a 4.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,984 shares of company stock valued at $1,147,865 over the last quarter. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

BDX stock opened at $227.96 on Wednesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $218.75 and a 52-week high of $251.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $65.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $232.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.87.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 15.74%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its board has approved a stock 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.29.

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.