Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 40.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,796 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $720,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,723 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $655,149,000 after purchasing an additional 688,296 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,844,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $647,082,000 after purchasing an additional 673,568 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,365,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,293,635,000 after purchasing an additional 460,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the third quarter valued at $108,243,000. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BDX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BDX opened at $235.88 on Wednesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $218.75 and a 12-month high of $248.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $226.92 and a 200 day moving average of $232.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Roland Goette sold 638 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.03, for a total transaction of $139,741.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,113,949.51. The trade was a 4.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.33, for a total transaction of $633,810.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,371,469.53. The trade was a 31.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,747 shares of company stock valued at $1,949,520 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.36% 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.