Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX Stock Position Cut by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 13.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,205 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 4,831 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $5,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BDX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 71.4% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 82,655 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $15,471,000 after buying an additional 34,437 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 88.2% in the third quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,794 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after buying an additional 2,715 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $650,000. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,954,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $553,068,000 after acquiring an additional 852,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BDX shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $233.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price target (down from $205.00) on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $195.46.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX stock opened at $163.90 on Wednesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $127.59 and a 1-year high of $187.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.74, a P/E/G ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.69.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.10. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.76% and a net margin of 8.01%.The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.350-12.650 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.52%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 27th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 0% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 953 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $174,027.33. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 36,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,713,291.43. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $334,010.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,509,228.70. This represents a 11.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,416 shares of company stock valued at $674,693 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. BD’s products are used by healthcare institutions, clinical laboratories, life science researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to enable safe, effective delivery of care, specimen collection and diagnostic testing. The company’s operations span multiple business areas focused on medical devices, life sciences research tools and interventional technologies.

BD’s product portfolio includes single-use medical devices such as syringes, needles, needlesafety and injection systems, infusion therapy and medication management solutions, as well as vascular access, urology and oncology devices acquired through its interventional business.