Addenda Capital Inc. Increases Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Addenda Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 17.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,363 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,240 shares during the quarter. Addenda Capital Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $8,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.5% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 2,956 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.6% in the first quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 3,951 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total transaction of $71,793.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $472,876.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on BDX shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $305.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BDX traded down $2.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $234.08. 1,075,025 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,446,660. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $233.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $236.24. The firm has a market cap of $67.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.94, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.42. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve month high of $283.50.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. 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.