Petredis Investment Advisors LLC Sells 134 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,270 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BDX. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,159 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 128,433 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,138,000 after purchasing an additional 3,633 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

NYSE BDX opened at $243.69 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $218.75 and a 12 month high of $248.42. The stock has a market cap of $70.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.02, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $227.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.88.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.03%.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total value of $990,787.83. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 2,838 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,469.53. This represents a 31.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,844 shares of company stock valued at $2,210,716. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.