King Luther Capital Management Corp Trims Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,150 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.1% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,942 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $950,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.3% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,678 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,092,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 264.6% during the 3rd quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC now owns 25,795 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 18,721 shares during the period. Finally, Altman Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,436,000. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BDX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised 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 research note on Tuesday, October 1st. 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.6 %

BDX stock opened at $224.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $64.74 billion, a PE ratio of 37.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $235.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.55. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $249.89.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.86%. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is presently 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.