Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Boosts Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,446 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,363 shares during the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company makes up about 0.8% of Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $8,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BDX. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 22,225.2% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 40,711,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $790,079,000 after buying an additional 40,528,680 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,678,939 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,118,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,223,149 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,989,132 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,714,871,000 after acquiring an additional 116,737 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 11,646,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,260,139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,486,694 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,841,083,000 after purchasing an additional 336,110 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Evercore set a $180.00 price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $170.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.29.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of BDX opened at $154.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.21, a PEG ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 0.21. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $127.59 and a twelve month high of $187.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.70.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.67 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.35 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.62 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $404,511.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,122,355.05. This represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.66, for a total transaction of $160,226.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,188 shares of company stock worth $765,120. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Company Profile

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.