Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC Buys 612 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,379 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BDX. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 36.2% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,482 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,806 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6,043.9% in the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 15,129 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,536,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDX has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.50.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.51, for a total value of $141,196.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,311,211.44. The trade was a 9.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total value of $990,787.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,345 shares in the company, valued at $5,380,488.45. The trade was a 15.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,344 shares of company stock worth $2,090,716 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:BDX opened at $240.19 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve month high of $248.42. The company has a market cap of $69.66 billion, a PE ratio of 40.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $227.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.70.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s 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.