Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX Stock: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Increases Position

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 862.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 107,350 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $23,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the second quarter worth about $3,721,533,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the second quarter valued at about $474,993,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,815,335 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,090,675,000 after buying an additional 1,887,224 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $247,372,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $204,226,000. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BDX. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $170.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $195.00 price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.47.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 1.0%

Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $214.74 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $59.17 billion, a PE ratio of 51.87, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.22. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.11 and a fifty-two week high of $216.74.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.07 by $0.08. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.90% and a net margin of 5.66%. The firm had revenue of $5.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.21 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 10th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 101.45%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 5th that allows the company to buy back 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael Feld sold 165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.49, for a total value of $31,100.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,717,022.80. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $628,530.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,134,230. This trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 3,310 shares of company stock valued at $688,650 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

Becton, Dickinson and Company, commonly known as BD, is a global medical technology company that develops and manufactures products used in healthcare, clinical laboratories and life sciences research. Founded in 1897, the company has a long history of producing medical devices and supplies. BD’s products include syringes, needles, infusion systems and medication-management technologies, as well as equipment and supplies for collecting and processing clinical specimens. The company also provides diagnostic systems, laboratory instruments and tools used in areas such as cell analysis and biomedical research.