269,491 Shares in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX Bought by Milford Funds Ltd.

Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 269,491 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $52,300,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BDX. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9,056.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,232,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $979,290,000 after purchasing an additional 5,174,944 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.0% during 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 buying an additional 4,223,149 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23,219.2% during 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 buying an additional 4,137,888 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter valued at $734,321,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 11,646,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,260,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,592 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $404,511.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,122,355.05. This represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.48, for a total transaction of $166,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,161,922.56. This trade represents a 7.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days, insiders sold 4,013 shares of company stock valued at $593,434. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $230.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.73.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of BDX opened at $146.13 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $127.59 and a 12-month high of $187.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend payout ratio is 106.33%.

Becton, Dickinson and 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.