Heartland Advisors Inc. Has $18.29 Million Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 16.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 116,344 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,087 shares during the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company accounts for 0.9% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $18,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23.9% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 5,149 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 365.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 31,876 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,491,000 after purchasing an additional 25,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 34.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,501 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,048,000 after purchasing an additional 6,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BDX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $230.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $170.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.29.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of BDX stock opened at $158.14 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $127.59 and a 1-year high of $187.35. 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 stock has a market cap of $43.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.04, a PEG ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $148.99 and a 200-day moving average of $166.39.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.13. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 5.33%.The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 106.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $404,511.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,122,355.05. This represents a 2.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.66, for a total transaction of $160,226.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,633.52. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 5,188 shares of company stock worth $765,120 in the last 90 days. 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.