New Covenant Trust Company N.A. Buys New Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 348 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 908.6% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,945 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 2,653 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $399,000. LBP AM SA grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 159.0% during the 1st quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 8,544 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after buying an additional 5,245 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,180 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,416 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of BDX traded down $5.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $236.00. The company had a trading volume of 3,769,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,458,702. The company has a market capitalization of $68.21 billion, a PE ratio of 51.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $284.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $232.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.24.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $5.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 6.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 83.70%.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total value of $71,793.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $472,876.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total transaction of $71,793.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $472,876.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.70, for a total value of $781,110.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at $3,457,713.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,900 shares of company stock valued at $1,634,112. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $274.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.13.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.