Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Cut to Neutral at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. Piper Sandler currently has $185.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock, down from their prior price target of $260.00.

BDX has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $279.00 to $261.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.88.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:BDX opened at $168.61 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $166.11 and a 1 year high of $251.99. The stock has a market cap of $48.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.07. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 8.47%. The firm had revenue of $5.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.17 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.10%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 700 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.99, for a total value of $159,593.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,215,163.67. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey William Henderson purchased 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $233.62 per share, with a total value of $350,430.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,872,464.30. This represents a 23.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,578 shares of company stock valued at $795,986. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 128 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

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.