Quest Partners LLC Sells 1,460 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Quest Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 16.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,460 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,181,483,000 after purchasing an additional 302,893 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,905,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,146,374,000 after buying an additional 87,230 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,031,167,000 after buying an additional 346,720 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,984,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $697,513,000 after buying an additional 89,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $655,149,000 after acquiring an additional 688,296 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BDX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of 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 cut their price target on shares of 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of BDX stock opened at $224.14 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $218.75 and a 12-month high of $249.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $236.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.89.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.97%.

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.