Regatta Capital Group LLC Buys 156 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Regatta Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,260 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Novare Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 43,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $9,755,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 1,260 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 2,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BDX. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI boosted 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 report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.50.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, EVP Shana Carol Neal sold 788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $185,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,201 shares in the company, valued at $3,807,235. This represents a 4.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Shan sold 500 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,377,840. This represents a 8.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,844 shares of company stock worth $2,210,716. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of BDX stock opened at $243.69 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $228.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.00. The company has a market cap of $70.67 billion, a PE ratio of 41.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.17. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $248.42.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.