Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Decreases Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 3.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,330 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 123 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,181,483,000 after buying an additional 302,893 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 87,230 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings 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. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $655,149,000 after acquiring an additional 688,296 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BDX shares. Evercore ISI boosted 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 research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James cut their target price on 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $235.24 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $237.56 and a 200-day moving average of $235.09. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $218.75 and a 52-week high of $259.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.96 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.11 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and 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.