First Trust Advisors LP Trims Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX – Get Rating) by 49.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,917 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 31,288 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and were worth $7,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and by 108.7% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,814,411 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,610,557,000 after buying an additional 13,965,418 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and by 16.1% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,219,559 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,286,779,000 after buying an additional 725,606 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and by 5.0% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,239,476 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $721,851,000 after purchasing an additional 152,826 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and by 1.0% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,648,455 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $590,155,000 after purchasing an additional 25,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and by 0.9% during the third quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,425,453 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $540,464,000 after purchasing an additional 21,183 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.08% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of BDX stock opened at $231.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.69 billion, a PE ratio of 43.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $215.90 and a 1-year high of $277.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $246.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $242.09.

Becton, Dickinson and (NYSE:BDX – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.59 billion. Becton, Dickinson and had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.47%. Becton, Dickinson and’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. Becton, Dickinson and’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and

In other news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 1,421 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.60, for a total value of $353,260.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,119 shares in the company, valued at $1,023,983.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Becton, Dickinson and from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $221.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.89.

Becton, Dickinson and Profile

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Becton, Dickinson & Co engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products. It operates through the following segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional. The BD Medical segment produces medical technologies and devices that are used to help improve healthcare delivery.