Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Sold by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. cut its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,762 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 399 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,953,116 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,364,096,000 after buying an additional 106,616 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,513 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,510,050,000 after acquiring an additional 111,101 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,365,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,293,635,000 after acquiring an additional 460,440 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,181,483,000 after purchasing an additional 302,893 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $720,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,723 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BDX shares. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Shana Carol Neal sold 788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $185,180.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,201 shares in the company, valued at $3,807,235. This represents a 4.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 638 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.03, for a total transaction of $139,741.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,113,949.51. The trade was a 4.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,747 shares of company stock worth $1,949,520 in the last quarter. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BDX opened at $233.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $218.75 and a 12 month high of $248.42. The stock has a market cap of $67.76 billion, a PE ratio of 39.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $226.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.45.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 70.03%.

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.