Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Buys 312 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,013 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $767,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $720,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,723 shares in the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,382,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,844,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $647,082,000 after acquiring an additional 673,568 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP David Shan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,741 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 638 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.03, for a total value of $139,741.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,113,949.51. The trade was a 4.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,844 shares of company stock valued at $2,210,716 in the last three months. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BDX opened at $249.75 on Wednesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve month high of $250.91. The company has a market cap of $72.43 billion, a PE ratio of 42.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $228.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.42 EPS for the current year.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. 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 currently 70.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BDX. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.00.

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.