Pines Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 1,179 Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Pines Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,179 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the third quarter worth $33,000. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 44.2% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 167 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BDX shares. StockNews.com lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.50.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Shana Carol Neal sold 788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $185,180.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,807,235. This represents a 4.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 2,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.33, for a total value of $633,810.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,469.53. The trade was a 31.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,747 shares of company stock valued at $1,949,520 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX opened at $232.70 on Thursday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $218.75 and a 12-month high of $248.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $67.48 billion, a PE ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $226.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $232.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.03%.

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.