Ancora Advisors LLC Buys 173 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,435 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 2,956 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,303 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 3,951 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.3 %

BDX opened at $241.07 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $232.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $236.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $284.48.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.20. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The firm had revenue of $5.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BDX. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $274.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roland Goette sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.70, for a total value of $781,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at $3,457,713.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Roland Goette sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.70, for a total value of $781,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at $3,457,713.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.31, for a total transaction of $71,793.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $472,876.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,900 shares of company stock worth $1,634,112. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.