1,241 Shares in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Acquired by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,241 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arlington Partners LLC raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 13,535 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 66,121 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $15,453,000 after buying an additional 6,321 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $76,000. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $237.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $68.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $234.22 and a 200 day moving average of $235.82. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $269.52.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.70%.

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.