Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Purchased by Romano Brothers AND Company

Romano Brothers AND Company raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 4.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,976 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price 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. Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.8 %

BDX stock opened at $238.62 on Friday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $237.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.16. The company has a market capitalization of $68.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.56, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.42. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company 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.