Earnest Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Earnest Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,227 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 212 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,181,483,000 after buying an additional 302,893 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 83,444 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $19,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911 shares during the period. AXA S.A. raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 503,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $117,711,000 after acquiring an additional 28,148 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1,247.1% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 11,895 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,780,000 after purchasing an additional 11,012 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 118.6% during the second quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 10,897 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 5,913 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX opened at $241.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $69.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $236.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $235.52. 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.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 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 company had revenue of $4.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 83.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James lowered their price target 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. StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup cut their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.