Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. Purchases New Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 1,012 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $761,798,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 277.3% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,936,654 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $478,295,000 after buying an additional 1,423,353 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 1st quarter valued at $173,692,000. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 117.1% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 710,932 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $173,347,000 after acquiring an additional 383,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the first quarter valued at $75,493,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of BDX stock opened at $236.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.42. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $218.75 and a 12-month high of $283.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $233.46 and a 200-day moving average of $236.24.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total transaction of $71,793.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $472,876.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.