Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Sold by ST Germain D J Co. Inc.

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,023 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 11,792 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $7,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 44.2% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 35.8% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 167 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 96.0% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 196 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BDX. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

BDX traded up $0.67 on Friday, hitting $235.10. The company had a trading volume of 685,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,573,944. The stock has a market cap of $68.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $226.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $232.47. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $218.75 and a 1-year high of $248.42.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. Equities analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.03%.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 2,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.33, for a total value of $633,810.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,371,469.53. This represents a 31.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 638 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.03, for a total transaction of $139,741.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,113,949.51. This trade represents a 4.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,747 shares of company stock worth $1,949,520. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company 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.