Whittier Trust Co. Boosts Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,707 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,423,353 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% during the second 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the first quarter worth about $173,692,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake 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 increased its stake in 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 period. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BDX has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James dropped 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 note on Friday, August 2nd. 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 research note on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upped 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. Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.4 %

BDX opened at $239.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.85. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $262.23. The company has a market cap of $69.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.79, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.12.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.99 billion for 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 was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.