Rafferty Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,777 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,461 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $7,436,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,429 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter worth about $208,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 97.7% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,788 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $859,000 after buying an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Somerset Trust Co increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 15,497 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,516,000 after buying an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 1.8%

BDX stock opened at $175.37 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $163.33 and a twelve month high of $251.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $50.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $203.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.80.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 8.47%. The firm had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.17 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current 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 $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.39%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $105,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,598,960. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total value of $94,497.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,887 shares in the company, valued at $964,107.36. This trade represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,878 shares of company stock valued at $636,393. Corporate 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.