Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Has $845,000 Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,467 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BDX. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total transaction of $67,197.78. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $542,348.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BDX. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $310.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 4th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.17.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Becton, Dickinson and Company stock traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $247.90. The company had a trading volume of 666,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,465,431. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $229.85 and a fifty-two week high of $287.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $71.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.06.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.29. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.05%.

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.