Hall Laurie J Trustee Increases Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Hall Laurie J Trustee boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 375 shares during the quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $2,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 9,238 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 36.2% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,482 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 222,580 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $52,016,000 after buying an additional 15,193 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,806 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BDX opened at $237.57 on Monday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $218.75 and a 12 month high of $248.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $68.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $227.07 and a 200 day moving average of $232.61.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The firm 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 firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is presently 70.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on BDX shares. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Shana Carol Neal sold 788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $185,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,807,235. The trade was a 4.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 638 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.03, for a total value of $139,741.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,113,949.51. This represents a 4.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,747 shares of company stock worth $1,949,520. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.