Sunbelt Securities Inc. Has $77,000 Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 12.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 311 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 46 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $77,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,123,450 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,369,681,000 after purchasing an additional 195,931 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,200,213 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,637,062,000 after buying an additional 435,168 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.2% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,630,351 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $938,593,000 after acquiring an additional 304,629 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,154,438 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $769,147,000 after acquiring an additional 19,200 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter valued at $761,798,000. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,715 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.81, for a total transaction of $399,269.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,252,750.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,715 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.81, for a total transaction of $399,269.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,252,750.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 3,300 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.73, for a total transaction of $781,209.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,676,942.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,615 shares of company stock worth $2,033,381 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $274.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $305.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.17.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BDX opened at $233.71 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $234.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.85. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $224.00 and a fifty-two week high of $287.32. The company has a market capitalization of $67.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.20. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The company had revenue of $5.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 83.70%.

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.