Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Price Target Raised to $290.00 at Evercore ISI

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) had its price target boosted by Evercore ISI from $286.00 to $290.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Raymond James cut their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 1.0 %

BDX opened at $237.35 on Tuesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $218.75 and a 1-year high of $269.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $236.64 and a 200-day moving average of $235.58.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.70%.

Institutional Trading of Becton, Dickinson and Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,123,450 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,369,681,000 after acquiring an additional 195,931 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,181,483,000 after acquiring an additional 302,893 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,905,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,146,374,000 after acquiring an additional 87,230 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,031,167,000 after acquiring an additional 346,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,984,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $697,513,000 after acquiring an additional 89,157 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.