Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,469 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $6,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BDX. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 37.6% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.8% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 2,362 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 668,792 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $161,246,000 after acquiring an additional 11,276 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the third quarter valued at $458,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 145.2% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 16,705 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,028,000 after purchasing an additional 9,893 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BDX shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. 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. Evercore ISI lifted 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 report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of BDX opened at $227.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $218.75 and a 1-year high of $249.89. The stock has a market cap of $65.68 billion, a PE ratio of 38.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $236.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.10.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS 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. Stockholders 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 a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.97%.

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.