U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 16.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,089 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 216 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.5% during the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 2,956 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,303 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 3,951 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $963,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on BDX shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $305.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total value of $71,793.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $472,876.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Roland Goette sold 3,300 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.73, for a total transaction of $781,209.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,308 shares in the company, valued at $2,676,942.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total transaction of $71,793.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $472,876.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,900 shares of company stock worth $1,634,112. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.6 %

BDX traded up $1.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $235.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 801,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,451,096. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve month high of $283.78. The stock has a market cap of $68.18 billion, a PE ratio of 51.96, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $233.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $236.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. The business had revenue of $4.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.70%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company develops, manufactures, and sells medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products for healthcare institutions, physicians, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical industry, and the general public worldwide. The company operates in three segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional.