Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Purchases New Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 552.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BDX. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:BDX traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $234.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,624,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,365,751. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $229.40 and a 12-month high of $287.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.59, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $240.76.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.