Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 12.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 314,434 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,843 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $49,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 20.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,977 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the period. United Bank grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,149 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 365.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 31,876 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,491,000 after buying an additional 25,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 34.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,501 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,048,000 after buying an additional 6,058 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BDX. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of 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. Evercore set a $180.00 price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.29.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

NYSE:BDX opened at $156.26 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $43.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.21. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.59 and a fifty-two week high of $187.35.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.67 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.35 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. Analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.33%.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other 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 transaction of $404,511.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,122,355.05. The trade was a 2.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.66, for a total value of $160,226.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 13,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,633.52. The trade was a 7.71% 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 a total of 5,114 shares of company stock worth $753,877 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.