Tobam Sells 561 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Tobam reduced its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 55.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 458 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 561 shares during the quarter. Tobam’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter worth about $36,314,000. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,832 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,641,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,360 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 7,903 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 3,012 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $472,876.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on BDX shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX stock opened at $242.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.39, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.42. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $283.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The firm had revenue of $4.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.