Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Sold by Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV cut its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BDX. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,181,483,000 after buying an additional 302,893 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,905,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,146,374,000 after acquiring an additional 87,230 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% during the second 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 last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,984,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $697,513,000 after purchasing an additional 89,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $655,149,000 after purchasing an additional 688,296 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BDX shares. Raymond James decreased their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Citigroup upgraded 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 research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:BDX opened at $240.45 on Tuesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $218.75 and a 12-month high of $262.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.16. The firm has a market cap of $69.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.96, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.42.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.11 EPS for the current year.

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.