Gen Wealth Partners Inc Purchases 86 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Gen Wealth Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,553 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,558 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,060 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. William Blair cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BDX opened at $167.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $48.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.15. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $163.33 and a 1-year high of $251.99.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.07. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 15.74%. The company had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.39%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 1,940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.91, for a total value of $436,325.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,411 shares in the company, valued at $1,666,808.01. The trade was a 20.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.99, for a total transaction of $159,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,215,163.67. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,578 shares of company stock valued at $795,986. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and 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.