Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Sells 165 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,795 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $4,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,123,450 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,369,681,000 after buying an additional 195,931 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,905,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,146,374,000 after acquiring an additional 87,230 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 346,720 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,539,663 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $628,440,000 after purchasing an additional 105,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longview Partners Guernsey LTD raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD now owns 2,321,435 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $574,439,000 after purchasing an additional 170,500 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BDX opened at $231.58 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.54. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $218.75 and a 12 month high of $269.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.93 billion, a PE ratio of 51.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 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 EPS 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 business had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 83.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BDX. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective 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 raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI decreased 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.50.

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.