Eastover Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 3,512 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Eastover Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,628 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 3,512 shares during the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company comprises about 2.8% of Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $5,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 277.3% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,936,654 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $478,295,000 after buying an additional 1,423,353 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $314,544,000 after buying an additional 788,735 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the first quarter worth about $173,692,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $655,149,000 after buying an additional 688,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew 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 buying an additional 346,720 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BDX. StockNews.com upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James cut their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE BDX opened at $237.46 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $236.66 and its 200 day moving average is $235.54. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve month high of $269.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.63 billion, a PE ratio of 52.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.42.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.19. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. The business had revenue of $4.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 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.