Ninety One North America Inc. Cuts Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Ninety One North America Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,456 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 30,136 shares during the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company makes up 2.3% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Ninety One North America Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $47,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,295,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 103,004 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $25,115,000 after purchasing an additional 22,207 shares during the period. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 16,640 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,302,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,113 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,685,000 after purchasing an additional 6,190 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BDX stock traded down $1.18 on Thursday, reaching $231.03. 227,845 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,397,817. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52 week low of $229.40 and a 52 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 stock has a market capitalization of $66.74 billion, a PE ratio of 55.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.65.

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. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 6.44%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total value of $67,197.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,348.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company 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.