Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. reduced its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,570 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 3,060 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $3,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,308,749 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,565,182,000 after buying an additional 4,305,947 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 59.2% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 8,786,190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,513,421,000 after acquiring an additional 3,268,478 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 24.4% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,514,446 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,466,613,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670,590 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,723,702 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,153,157,000 after acquiring an additional 244,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $653,377,000. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BDX. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $197.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $224.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $205.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.58, for a total transaction of $38,317.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,324,389.28. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.03, for a total transaction of $123,302.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,568,973.15. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 1,052 shares of company stock valued at $201,235 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE BDX opened at $195.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $55.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.68. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $162.29 and a one year high of $251.99.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 14th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.68% and a return on equity of 16.42%. The company had revenue of $5.32 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.04. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.04%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. BD’s products are used by healthcare institutions, clinical laboratories, life science researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to enable safe, effective delivery of care, specimen collection and diagnostic testing. The company’s operations span multiple business areas focused on medical devices, life sciences research tools and interventional technologies.

BD’s product portfolio includes single-use medical devices such as syringes, needles, needlesafety and injection systems, infusion therapy and medication management solutions, as well as vascular access, urology and oncology devices acquired through its interventional business.