Raymond James & Associates Cuts Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Raymond James & Associates lowered its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 578,920 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 21,328 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.20% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $139,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BDX. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,181,483,000 after buying an additional 302,893 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,905,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,146,374,000 after acquiring an additional 87,230 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,031,167,000 after purchasing an additional 346,720 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,984,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $697,513,000 after purchasing an additional 89,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $655,149,000 after purchasing an additional 688,296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BDX. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of BDX stock opened at $243.75 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $262.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.45 billion, a PE ratio of 53.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.24.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The company had revenue of $4.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.70%.

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.