Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Short Interest Update

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,730,000 shares, an increase of 37.9% from the August 31st total of 1,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Becton, Dickinson and Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 33.8% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,426 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 14,653 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,425,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the period. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group increased its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 5,597 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,635,000. Finally, Creekside Partners bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $234,000. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of BDX stock traded up $4.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $241.51. 1,284,525 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,425,640. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52 week low of $218.75 and a 52 week high of $269.52. The stock has a market cap of $69.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $236.15 and its 200-day moving average is $235.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The business had revenue of $4.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. 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 1.57%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is presently 83.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BDX shares. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of 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. Raymond James decreased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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 report on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.50.

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.