Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 243 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 16.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,272 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 243 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter worth about $761,798,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $478,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,423,353 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $173,692,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total value of $71,793.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $472,876.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:BDX opened at $236.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.29 billion, a PE ratio of 52.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $234.04 and its 200 day moving average is $236.04. 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 has a 12 month low of $218.75 and a 12 month high of $278.45.

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 return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. Sell-side 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 firm 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 dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 83.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BDX shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $274.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James cut their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.