Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX Stock: Bfsg LLC Cuts Stake

Bfsg LLC lessened its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,567 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 14,569 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $2,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the second quarter worth about $3,721,533,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,000,064 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,269,960,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177,256 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,815,335 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,090,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,887,224 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $474,993,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,101,695 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $318,050,000 after buying an additional 30,766 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BDX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.07.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX opened at $208.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $57.47 billion, a PE ratio of 62.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $187.23 and a 200-day moving average of $170.20. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $127.59 and a one year high of $209.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.09. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael Feld sold 165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.49, for a total transaction of $31,100.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 19,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,717,022.80. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 2,438 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.84, for a total transaction of $440,887.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,686,559.04. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,907 shares of company stock worth $1,269,128 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

Becton, Dickinson and Company, commonly known as BD, is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of products used by healthcare providers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical companies and patients. Its offerings support medication delivery, diagnostics, infection prevention, surgical care and other clinical procedures.

BD’s products include needles, syringes, injection devices, intravenous administration systems, medication-management technologies, specimen-collection products, diagnostic systems and laboratory instruments.