Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 192,695 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 9,514 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $46,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BDX. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $314,544,000 after purchasing an additional 788,735 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $655,149,000 after buying an additional 688,296 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the third quarter valued at $108,243,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in 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 valued at $1,031,167,000 after acquiring an additional 346,720 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the first quarter worth about $75,493,000. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.1 %

BDX stock opened at $222.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.72. The stock has a market cap of $64.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $249.89.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 70.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.00.

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.