Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,467 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 708 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BDX. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 30.2% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,051 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,735,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 206.5% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 46,328 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,464,000 after buying an additional 31,215 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 32,175 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,962,000 after buying an additional 6,220 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 225.9% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 7,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,924,000 after buying an additional 5,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 380.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 58,923 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $14,580,000 after acquiring an additional 46,668 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on BDX shares. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 1.2 %

BDX stock opened at $240.10 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $237.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $235.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.40, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $259.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.85.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.19%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company 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.