Assetmark Inc. Purchases 2,204 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,888 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,204 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $8,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,181,483,000 after purchasing an additional 302,893 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted 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 valued at $1,146,374,000 after acquiring an additional 87,230 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the 2nd 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. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,984,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $697,513,000 after acquiring an additional 89,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $655,149,000 after purchasing an additional 688,296 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 topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James cut their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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 raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of BDX stock opened at $234.73 on Tuesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $249.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.85 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.10.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 63.97%.

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.