Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 12.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $3,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 70,906 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $17,095,000 after buying an additional 4,114 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,740 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,518,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 147.5% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,185 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.0% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 157,038 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $37,862,000 after buying an additional 3,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 11.2% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 119,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $28,886,000 after buying an additional 12,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BDX. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.7 %

BDX stock opened at $221.26 on Wednesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $249.89. The firm has a market cap of $63.97 billion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $233.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.97%.

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.