Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Sold by Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 39,054 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,724 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $8,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $767,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $720,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,723 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $8,382,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 561,040 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $135,267,000 after acquiring an additional 12,845 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,844,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $647,082,000 after acquiring an additional 673,568 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BDX shares. StockNews.com downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 1.0 %

BDX stock opened at $238.05 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $218.75 and a 52-week high of $248.42. The firm has a market cap of $69.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.08, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 70.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP David Shan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,377,840. This represents a 8.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 597 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.51, for a total transaction of $141,196.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,311,211.44. The trade was a 9.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,844 shares of company stock worth $2,210,716 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.