Cooke & Bieler LP Grows Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 12.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 811,880 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,811 shares during the period. Becton, Dickinson and Company comprises 1.8% of Cooke & Bieler LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 0.28% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $189,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter worth $761,798,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 277.3% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,936,654 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $478,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,423,353 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $314,544,000 after purchasing an additional 788,735 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $173,692,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,031,167,000 after purchasing an additional 346,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total value of $71,793.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $472,876.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BDX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $274.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James reduced their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

BDX traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, hitting $242.37. 479,295 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,415,293. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $233.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $278.45. The firm has a market cap of $70.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.42.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The firm had revenue of $4.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.70%.

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.