HF Advisory Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

HF Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,185 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,953,116 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,364,096,000 after acquiring an additional 106,616 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,513 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,510,050,000 after purchasing an additional 111,101 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,365,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,293,635,000 after purchasing an additional 460,440 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,181,483,000 after buying an additional 302,893 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $720,089,000 after buying an additional 1,317,723 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDX has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $237.57 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $227.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $218.75 and a 12-month high of $248.42. The company has a market cap of $68.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.00, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.39.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.03%.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Roland Goette sold 638 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.03, for a total transaction of $139,741.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,113,949.51. The trade was a 4.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 2,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.33, for a total transaction of $633,810.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,469.53. This trade represents a 31.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,747 shares of company stock valued at $1,949,520. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.