Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Purchases 84 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 9.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 979 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.4% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,978 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.5% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 2,956 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.6% in the first quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 5.1% in the second quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 900 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BDX. StockNews.com upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup cut their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $274.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

NYSE BDX opened at $234.18 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.68 billion, a PE ratio of 51.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $218.75 and a 1-year high of $269.52.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 83.70%.

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.