Stonegate Investment Group LLC Buys 559 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,095 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BDX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $767,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $720,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,723 shares in the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,382,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $647,082,000 after purchasing an additional 673,568 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

BDX opened at $248.55 on Tuesday. 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 $228.08 and a 200 day moving average of $233.15. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $218.75 and a 52-week high of $249.49. The stock has a market cap of $72.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.84, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.42 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,380,488.45. The trade was a 15.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Shana Carol Neal sold 788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $185,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,201 shares in the company, valued at $3,807,235. This represents a 4.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,844 shares of company stock worth $2,210,716. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BDX. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.