Norges Bank Takes $734.32 Million Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,783,792 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $734,321,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BDX. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9,056.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,232,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $979,290,000 after buying an additional 5,174,944 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $7,118,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,223,149 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23,219.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,155,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $769,397,000 after purchasing an additional 4,137,888 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 40.6% in the third quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,954,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $553,068,000 after purchasing an additional 852,854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BDX. Argus reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $230.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $233.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. 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. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.64.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.0%

BDX stock opened at $147.13 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $127.59 and a twelve month high of $187.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 0.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.99.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.13. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. 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.