Providence Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $4,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BDX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,123,450 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,369,681,000 after acquiring an additional 195,931 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,905,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,146,374,000 after buying an additional 87,230 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,031,167,000 after buying an additional 346,720 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $655,149,000 after buying an additional 688,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.3% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,539,663 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $628,440,000 after buying an additional 105,821 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $234.70 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $235.68 and its 200-day moving average is $235.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.83 billion, a PE ratio of 51.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $218.75 and a 12-month high of $269.52.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.70%.

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.