Vestal Point Capital LP Takes Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 30,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $7,233,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BDX. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $720,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,723 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 788,735 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 688,296 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,365,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,293,635,000 after acquiring an additional 460,440 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $108,243,000. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE BDX opened at $221.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.16 billion, a PE ratio of 37.37, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve month high of $249.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $234.23.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share 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 paid a $1.04 dividend. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 63.97%.

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.