Kanawha Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Kanawha Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,883 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,880 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $13,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BDX. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $689,833,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,002,802 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,414,322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,750 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $211,097,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $155,080,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,843,856 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,567,654,000 after buying an additional 667,957 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BDX shares. Wall Street Zen raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Argus raised their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $220.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, September 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $205.40.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, Director Claire Fraser sold 917 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.50, for a total value of $171,937.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,167,375. This trade represents a 3.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,838 shares of company stock worth $348,392. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

BDX opened at $189.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $163.33 and a 1 year high of $251.99. The firm has a market cap of $54.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.25.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 14th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 7.51%.The business had revenue of $5.32 billion for the quarter. As a group, analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.82%.

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.