Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $7.24 Million Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC cut its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 40.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,905 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 21,309 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $7,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 96.9% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,375 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 3,138 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 73.2% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,824 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 414.3% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,138 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after buying an additional 4,139 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 10.0% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,941 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 4,165 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 2,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.33, for a total transaction of $633,810.54. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 24,345 shares in the company, valued at $5,380,488.45. The trade was a 15.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,747 shares of company stock valued at $1,949,520 over the last quarter. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDX has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of 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 increased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted 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 research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Becton, Dickinson and Company stock traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $235.10. 895,423 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,600,237. 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 one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $248.42. The stock has a market cap of $68.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $226.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $232.47.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.04 dividend. 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 yield of 1.77%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is presently 70.03%.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.