Raymond James Downgrades Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) to Market Perform

Raymond James lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $279.00 to $261.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.88.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $168.61 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.50. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $166.11 and a 12-month high of $251.99. The firm has a market cap of $48.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 8.47%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 69.10%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 1,940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.91, for a total value of $436,325.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,411 shares in the company, valued at $1,666,808.01. The trade was a 20.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey William Henderson purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $233.62 per share, for a total transaction of $350,430.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 8,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,872,464.30. This represents a 23.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,578 shares of company stock valued at $795,986. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Becton, Dickinson and Company

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,743,052 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,067,196,000 after purchasing an additional 184,288 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,126,707 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,751,187,000 after buying an additional 3,219,317 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,843,856 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,567,654,000 after buying an additional 667,957 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,351,537 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,437,161,000 after buying an additional 66,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,426,022 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,004,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057,879 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company develops, manufactures, and sells medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products for healthcare institutions, physicians, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical industry, and the general public worldwide. The company operates in three segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional.