Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Makes New Investment in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 919 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $314,544,000 after buying an additional 788,735 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 1st quarter valued at $173,692,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position 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 worth $1,031,167,000 after purchasing an additional 346,720 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the first quarter valued at $75,493,000. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of BDX opened at $226.97 on Friday. 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 has a 52 week low of $218.75 and a 52 week high of $257.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.70, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $237.53 and a 200-day moving average of $235.16.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.11 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. 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 presently 78.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BDX shares. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on 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, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.