Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 2,064 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,391 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,064 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $7,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 95,813.8% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,045,643 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,028,807,000 after buying an additional 4,041,425 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $697,398,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 242.8% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,783,769 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $461,158,000 after buying an additional 1,263,391 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 262.0% in the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 847,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $219,091,000 after buying an additional 613,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,927,519 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,703,041,000 after buying an additional 516,427 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total value of $67,197.78. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $542,348.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $233.15 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $240.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $242.58. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $229.40 and a 1 year high of $287.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.29. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 90.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BDX shares. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.00.

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.