Americana Partners LLC Purchases 153 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Americana Partners LLC boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,052 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 153 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 103,004 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $25,115,000 after buying an additional 22,207 shares during the period. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 16,640 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,302,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 69.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,113 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,685,000 after buying an additional 6,190 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter worth about $1,043,000. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BDX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $241.71 on Tuesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $287.32. The stock has a market cap of $69.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $240.48 and its 200-day moving average is $243.74.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.29. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 6.44%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total value of $67,197.78. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,348.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company 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.