Van Diest Capital LLC Grows Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Van Diest Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 219.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,984 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,109 shares during the quarter. Van Diest Capital LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the period. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd now owns 37,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,278,000 after purchasing an additional 8,250 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 627,900 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $122,403,000 after purchasing an additional 26,671 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,126,471 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $218,614,000 after buying an additional 240,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,615,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $404,511.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,122,355.05. This represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,100 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.66, for a total transaction of $160,226.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 13,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,633.52. This represents a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,188 shares of company stock valued at $765,120. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BDX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $177.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.29.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 2.2%

BDX opened at $156.26 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $149.95 and a 200 day moving average of $164.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $127.59 and a 12 month high of $187.35. The firm has a market cap of $43.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.56, a P/E/G ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.21.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.67 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 5.33%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.35 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.62 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 106.33%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. BD’s products are used by healthcare institutions, clinical laboratories, life science researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to enable safe, effective delivery of care, specimen collection and diagnostic testing. The company’s operations span multiple business areas focused on medical devices, life sciences research tools and interventional technologies.

BD’s product portfolio includes single-use medical devices such as syringes, needles, needlesafety and injection systems, infusion therapy and medication management solutions, as well as vascular access, urology and oncology devices acquired through its interventional business.