Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $182.20.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total transaction of $404,511.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,122,355.05. The trade was a 2.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.66, for a total value of $160,226.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,633.52. The trade was a 7.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,189 shares of company stock worth $765,661. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Becton, Dickinson and Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 22,225.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 40,711,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $790,079,000 after buying an additional 40,528,680 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,678,939 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,118,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,223,149 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,989,132 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,714,871,000 after purchasing an additional 116,737 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 11,646,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,260,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,592 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,486,694 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,841,083,000 after buying an additional 336,110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX stock opened at $170.30 on Thursday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $127.59 and a 12-month high of $187.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $46.93 billion, a PE ratio of 43.11, a PEG ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.19.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.09. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 5.33%.The firm had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. Analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 106.33%.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.