Keystone Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 318 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,953,116 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,364,096,000 after buying an additional 106,616 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,513 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,510,050,000 after purchasing an additional 111,101 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,365,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,293,635,000 after purchasing an additional 460,440 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $720,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,844,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $647,082,000 after purchasing an additional 673,568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, EVP David Shan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total value of $990,787.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,380,488.45. This represents a 15.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,844 shares of company stock worth $2,210,716. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 7.1 %

BDX stock opened at $227.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $66.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.32, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.40. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve month high of $251.99. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $231.79 and a 200-day moving average of $234.09.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.41 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BDX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.00.

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.