Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Coverage Initiated at UBS Group

Stock analysts at UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in a research note issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.29.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $158.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.80 billion, a PE ratio of 40.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $127.59 and a 12 month high of $187.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $150.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.40.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.67 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 5.33%.Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.35 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.66, for a total value of $160,226.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,633.52. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total transaction of $404,511.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,122,355.05. This trade represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,114 shares of company stock worth $753,877. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Becton, Dickinson and Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BDX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd now owns 37,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,278,000 after acquiring an additional 8,250 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 627,900 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $122,403,000 after acquiring an additional 26,671 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,126,471 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $218,614,000 after acquiring an additional 240,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 172,580 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $33,493,000 after purchasing an additional 65,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. BD’s products are used by healthcare institutions, clinical laboratories, life science researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to enable safe, effective delivery of care, specimen collection and diagnostic testing. The company’s operations span multiple business areas focused on medical devices, life sciences research tools and interventional technologies.

BD’s product portfolio includes single-use medical devices such as syringes, needles, needlesafety and injection systems, infusion therapy and medication management solutions, as well as vascular access, urology and oncology devices acquired through its interventional business.