Crescent Sterling Ltd. Increases Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Crescent Sterling Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,819 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Crescent Sterling Ltd.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,123,450 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,369,681,000 after buying an additional 195,931 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 435,168 shares during the period. 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 valued at $1,342,503,000 after buying 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 valued at $1,043,045,000 after buying an additional 395,657 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,630,351 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $938,593,000 after buying an additional 304,629 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James increased their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:BDX traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $234.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,624,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,365,751. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $229.40 and a 1-year high of $287.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $238.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.76. The company has a market cap of $67.78 billion, a PE ratio of 55.59, 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 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 net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $542,348.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.