Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Posted by Brian Himes on Oct 24th, 2026

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX – Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $196.70 and last traded at $195.7040, with a volume of 43,873 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $194.34.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $195.00 price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.07.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Becton, Dickinson and Company

Insider Activity

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, CEO Thomas Polen, Jr. sold 4,152 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $768,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,163 shares in the company, valued at $20,380,155. The trade was a 3.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael Feld sold 165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.49, for a total value of $31,100.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,717,022.80. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 6,906 shares of company stock worth $1,265,855 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Becton, Dickinson and Company

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the second quarter valued at $3,721,533,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 2nd quarter worth about $474,993,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,815,335 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,090,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,887,224 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $247,372,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $204,226,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.7%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $54.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 0.21.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.09. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.620-12.720 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 126.51%.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

(Get Free Report)

Becton, Dickinson and Company, commonly known as BD, is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of products used by healthcare providers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical companies and patients. Its offerings support medication delivery, diagnostics, infection prevention, surgical care and other clinical procedures.

BD’s products include needles, syringes, injection devices, intravenous administration systems, medication-management technologies, specimen-collection products, diagnostic systems and laboratory instruments.