Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX Stock: M&G PLC Trims Position

M&G PLC cut its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 4.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 845,557 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 42,156 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $151,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, CEO Thomas Polen, Jr. sold 2,993 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $628,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,134,230. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael Feld sold 165 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.49, for a total transaction of $31,100.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,717,022.80. This represents a 0.83% 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 7,462 shares of company stock worth $1,456,770 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on BDX. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $242.00 price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $208.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.47.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 1.5%

BDX opened at $215.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $59.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.96, a PEG ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $138.31 and a 12 month high of $216.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $188.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.32.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.07 by $0.08. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 5th that allows the company to buy back 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 10th. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 101.45%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company, commonly known as BD, is a global medical technology company that develops and manufactures products used in healthcare, clinical laboratories and life sciences research. Founded in 1897, the company has a long history of producing medical devices and supplies.

BD’s products include syringes, needles, infusion systems and medication-management technologies, as well as equipment and supplies for collecting and processing clinical specimens. The company also provides diagnostic systems, laboratory instruments and tools used in areas such as cell analysis and biomedical research.

Its offerings serve hospitals, clinics, laboratories, researchers and pharmaceutical companies.