DAVENPORT & Co LLC Trims Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lowered its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 614,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 30,699 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $119,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 20.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,977 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,827,000 after buying an additional 1,354 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23.9% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 5,149 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $197.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $233.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.62.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE BDX opened at $155.89 on Wednesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $127.59 and a 12-month high of $187.35. The company has a market cap of $44.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.31.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.10. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.76% and a net margin of 8.01%.The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.350-12.650 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.52%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 27th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to buy up to 0% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 953 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $174,027.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 36,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,713,291.43. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,610 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total value of $334,010.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,509,228.70. This trade represents a 11.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,787 shares of company stock worth $551,391. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. BD’s products are used by healthcare institutions, clinical laboratories, life science researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to enable safe, effective delivery of care, specimen collection and diagnostic testing. The company’s operations span multiple business areas focused on medical devices, life sciences research tools and interventional technologies.

BD’s product portfolio includes single-use medical devices such as syringes, needles, needlesafety and injection systems, infusion therapy and medication management solutions, as well as vascular access, urology and oncology devices acquired through its interventional business.