Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $283.50.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BDX shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $232.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. 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 one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $249.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.45.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 70.03%.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total transaction of $990,787.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,380,488.45. This represents a 15.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 2,838 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.33, for a total value of $633,810.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,371,469.53. This represents a 31.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,764,340. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norway Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 5,119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,844,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $647,082,000 after buying an additional 673,568 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 68.0% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,250 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after buying an additional 3,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter worth $8,382,000. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.