Diversified Trust Co Grows Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 1,387.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,792 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $2,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New Hampshire grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 1,178 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 25,141 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,879,000 after purchasing an additional 4,984 shares during the last quarter. Winthrop Partners WNY LLC bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter worth about $306,000. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter worth about $281,000. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 22,225.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 40,711,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $790,079,000 after purchasing an additional 40,528,680 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BDX. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $230.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $181.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total transaction of $404,511.40. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.48, for a total value of $166,628.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,161,922.56. This represents a 7.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 4,013 shares of company stock valued at $593,434 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

NYSE BDX opened at $143.99 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.45, a PEG ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.22. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $127.59 and a 1-year high of $187.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $148.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.17.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.35 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue 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. On average, equities 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 firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 106.33%.

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.