Triangle Securities Wealth Management Decreases Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Triangle Securities Wealth Management reduced its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,935 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 190 shares during the period. Triangle Securities Wealth Management’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BDX. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 167 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 245 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 44.2% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Birch Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.4% during the third quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 11,773 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,838,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.7% during the third quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 2,937 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BDX shares. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total transaction of $990,787.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,380,488.45. This trade represents a 15.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 2,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.33, for a total value of $633,810.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,371,469.53. The trade was a 31.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,747 shares of company stock worth $1,949,520 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX opened at $237.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $218.75 and a 52-week high of $248.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $232.59. The company has a market capitalization of $68.90 billion, a PE ratio of 40.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.39.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $1.04 dividend. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 70.03%.

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.