Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDXFree Report) by 97.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,788 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the third quarter worth $767,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,317,723 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,382,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 561,040 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $135,267,000 after purchasing an additional 12,845 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in 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 worth $647,082,000 after buying an additional 673,568 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total transaction of $990,787.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,380,488.45. This represents a 15.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.51, for a total value of $141,196.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,311,211.44. This represents a 9.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,344 shares of company stock worth $2,090,716 over the last quarter. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.50.

View Our Latest Analysis on Becton, Dickinson and Company

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

BDX opened at $240.19 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $69.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.44, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve month high of $248.42.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDXGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. 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 (DPR) is 70.03%.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

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