Becton, Dickinson and Company to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.95 (NYSE:BDX)

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 30th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of 0.95 per share by the medical instruments supplier on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 52 years. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a dividend payout ratio of 26.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Becton, Dickinson and Company to earn $14.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.5%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

NYSE BDX traded up $1.16 on Tuesday, reaching $234.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,624,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,365,011. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $239.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.93. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $229.40 and a 12 month high of $287.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.78 billion, a PE ratio of 55.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.43.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $542,348.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.