Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,476 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,295,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 103,004 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $25,115,000 after purchasing an additional 22,207 shares in the last quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 5.1% during the third quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 16,640 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,302,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 69.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,113 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,685,000 after acquiring an additional 6,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 714,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $174,122,000 after acquiring an additional 7,790 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $67,197.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $542,348.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BDX traded down $2.58 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $231.25. The company had a trading volume of 425,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,369,225. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $229.40 and a twelve month high of $287.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $66.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $239.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.73.

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

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.