AMG National Trust Bank Purchases New Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 18,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $2,919,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $790,079,000 after acquiring an additional 40,528,680 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. State Street Corp raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,989,132 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,714,871,000 after purchasing an additional 116,737 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 336,110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BDX. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Argus decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $16,122,355.05. This trade represents a 2.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 13,172 shares in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,188 shares of company stock valued at $765,120. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE BDX opened at $150.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $41.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.16, a PEG ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.21. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $127.59 and a 1 year high of $187.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.99.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.35 earnings per share. The company’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. Research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.