Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Upgraded at Citigroup

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $275.00 target price on the medical instruments supplier’s stock, up from their prior target price of $255.00. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.70% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Raymond James dropped 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $239.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $69.29 billion, a PE ratio of 52.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $236.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $235.57. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $269.52.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 EPS. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Becton, Dickinson and Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 22.5% during the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 245 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Park National Corp OH boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 39,259 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $9,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814 shares in the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,132,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,426 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 14,653 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,425,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.