Capital Investment Advisors LLC Has $440,000 Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,937 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $767,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $720,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,723 shares during the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,382,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 561,040 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $135,267,000 after acquiring an additional 12,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,844,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $647,082,000 after acquiring an additional 673,568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

BDX opened at $232.70 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.50. The company has a market capitalization of $67.48 billion, a PE ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $218.75 and a 1 year high of $248.42. 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 (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. Research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is an increase 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 70.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Shana Carol Neal sold 788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $185,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,807,235. This represents a 4.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total value of $990,787.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,380,488.45. This trade represents a 15.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,747 shares of company stock worth $1,949,520. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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 raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.50.

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.