Centaurus Financial Inc. Has $333,000 Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 33.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,426 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $333,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,123,450 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,369,681,000 after buying an additional 195,931 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,181,483,000 after acquiring an additional 302,893 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,905,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,146,374,000 after acquiring an additional 87,230 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,031,167,000 after acquiring an additional 346,720 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,984,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $697,513,000 after purchasing an additional 89,157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BDX stock opened at $238.22 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $236.66 and a 200-day moving average of $235.55. The stock has a market cap of $68.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.42. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $218.75 and a 52-week high of $269.52. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.