Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 8,898 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Great Lakes Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 209,902 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 8,898 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $40,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BDX. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9,056.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,232,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $979,290,000 after acquiring an additional 5,174,944 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,678,939 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,118,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,223,149 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23,219.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,155,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $769,397,000 after purchasing an additional 4,137,888 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $734,321,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 11,646,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,260,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,592 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $170.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Evercore lifted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $180.00 to $190.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.64.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $147.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.94. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52 week low of $127.59 and a 52 week high of $187.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $150.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.62 billion, a PE ratio of 37.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 0.22.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.13. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 5.33%.The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $404,511.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,122,355.05. This trade represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,100 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.48, for a total value of $166,628.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,161,922.56. The trade was a 7.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 4,013 shares of company stock valued at $593,434 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.