Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 427 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 23.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,223 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BDX. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,060 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 128 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 265 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on BDX shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $261.00 to $241.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $196.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.22.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX opened at $174.31 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $183.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $163.33 and a 52-week high of $251.99. The firm has a market cap of $49.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 8.47%. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.17 EPS. Analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 79.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total value of $94,497.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,887 shares in the company, valued at $964,107.36. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $105,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,598,960. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,104 shares of company stock worth $399,675 in the last three months. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.