Auto Owners Insurance Co Buys 40,528,680 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 22,225.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,711,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,528,680 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co owned about 0.14% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $790,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9,056.3% during the 3rd 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,678,939 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,118,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,223,149 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23,219.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,155,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $769,397,000 after purchasing an additional 4,137,888 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter valued at $734,321,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BDX shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $177.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Evercore lifted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $230.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

BDX stock opened at $143.99 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $148.89 and its 200 day moving average is $172.31. The firm has a market cap of $39.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.45, a P/E/G ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.22.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.13. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. Research analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 106.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,122,355.05. The trade was a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,161,922.56. This trade represents a 7.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 4,013 shares of company stock valued at $593,434 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.