Atomi Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 1,035 Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 121.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 97,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $22,810,000 after buying an additional 53,440 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.6% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,031,167,000 after acquiring an additional 346,720 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,512 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 8,628 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total transaction of $71,793.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $472,876.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BDX shares. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $305.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $274.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

NYSE BDX opened at $238.90 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $233.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.00. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $218.75 and a 1 year high of $283.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $69.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.62, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.42.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. The business had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 83.70%.

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.