Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX Shares Acquired by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,978 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 3,140 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 256.8% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 132 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 285.3% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 131 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 474.1% during the second quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 463.3% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 169 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $197.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $334,010.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,095 shares in the company, valued at $2,509,228.70. This represents a 11.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 2,463 shares of company stock valued at $501,530 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BDX opened at $210.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $59.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.25. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $162.29 and a 1 year high of $235.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.22.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 16.42% and a net margin of 7.68%.The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 72.04%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to buy up to 0% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.