Founders Financial Securities LLC Grows Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,012 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares during the quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $2,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,123,450 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,369,681,000 after buying an additional 195,931 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,031,167,000 after buying an additional 346,720 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,154,438 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $769,147,000 after buying an additional 19,200 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter worth $761,798,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,539,663 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $628,440,000 after purchasing an additional 105,821 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BDX shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $274.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total transaction of $71,793.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $472,876.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BDX opened at $242.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $233.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $236.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $278.45. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $70.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.35, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.42.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 83.70%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company 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.