Atwood & Palmer Inc. Reduces Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Atwood & Palmer Inc. trimmed its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,105 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 363 shares during the quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $6,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BDX. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.4% in the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 1,816 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.6% during the third quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 20,982 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,059,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 132,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $31,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,821 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

NYSE BDX opened at $237.46 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $236.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $235.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.36 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.19. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. The company had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio 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.