Fiduciary Group LLC Has $6.32 Million Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Fiduciary Group LLC cut its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,927 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $6,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BDX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,927,519 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,703,041,000 after acquiring an additional 516,427 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,200,213 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,637,062,000 after purchasing an additional 435,168 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 11.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,192,832 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,342,503,000 after purchasing an additional 512,566 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 10.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,034,523 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,043,045,000 after purchasing an additional 395,657 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 304,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total transaction of $67,197.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $542,348.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James raised their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of BDX traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $231.55. The stock had a trading volume of 738,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,001,849. The firm has a market cap of $66.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $239.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.24. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $229.40 and a twelve month high of $287.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.29. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 6.44%. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

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.