Brown Financial Advisors Makes New $690,000 Investment in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,954 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,984,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $697,513,000 after buying an additional 89,157 shares in the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $351,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the second quarter valued at $240,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 11,617 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,716,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.3% during the second quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 22,456 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,248,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of BDX stock opened at $241.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $236.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.54. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $218.75 and a 52-week high of $269.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.