BLB&B Advisors LLC Buys 130 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

BLB&B Advisors LLC raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,121 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 277.3% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,936,654 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $478,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,423,353 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $314,544,000 after purchasing an additional 788,735 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the first quarter worth $173,692,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $655,149,000 after purchasing an additional 688,296 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,031,167,000 after buying an additional 346,720 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on BDX. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Raymond James lowered 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

BDX stock opened at $240.52 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $237.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $235.16. The firm has a market cap of $69.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $218.75 and a 12 month high of $262.23.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.