Contrasting Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) & Aethlon Medical (NASDAQ:AEMD)

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) and Aethlon Medical (NASDAQ:AEMD) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Becton, Dickinson and Company and Aethlon Medical, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Becton, Dickinson and Company	0	0	7	0	3.00
Aethlon Medical	0	0	1	0	3.00

Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus target price of $283.00, indicating a potential upside of 25.38%. Aethlon Medical has a consensus target price of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 947.90%. Given Aethlon Medical’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Aethlon Medical is more favorable than Becton, Dickinson and Company.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.0% of Becton, Dickinson and Company shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.0% of Aethlon Medical shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Becton, Dickinson and Company shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Aethlon Medical shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Becton, Dickinson and Company has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aethlon Medical has a beta of 1.88, suggesting that its share price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Becton, Dickinson and Company and Aethlon Medical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Becton, Dickinson and Company	8.47%	15.74%	7.29%
Aethlon Medical	N/A	-160.36%	-115.74%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Becton, Dickinson and Company and Aethlon Medical”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Becton, Dickinson and Company	$20.18 billion	3.24	$1.71 billion	$6.02	37.50
Aethlon Medical	$570,000.00	16.36	-$12.21 million	($2.82)	-0.24

Becton, Dickinson and Company has higher revenue and earnings than Aethlon Medical. Aethlon Medical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Becton, Dickinson and Company, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Becton, Dickinson and Company beats Aethlon Medical on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The BD Medical segment provides peripheral intravenous (IV) and advanced peripheral catheters, central lines, acute dialysis catheters, vascular access technology, vascular care and preparation products, needle-free IV connectors and extensions sets, closed-system drug transfer devices, hazardous drug detections, hypodermic syringes and needles, anesthesia needles and trays, enteral syringes, and sharps disposal systems; IV medication safety and infusion therapy delivery systems, medication compounding workflow systems, automated medication dispensing and supply management systems, and medication inventory optimization and tracking systems; and prefillable drug delivery systems. The BD Life Sciences segment offers specimen and blood collection products; automated blood and tuberculosis culturing, molecular testing, microorganism identification and drug susceptibility, and liquid-based cytology systems, as well as rapid diagnostic assays, microbiology laboratory automation products, and plated media products; and fluorescence-activated cell sorters and analyzers, antibodies and kits, reagent systems, and solutions for single-cell gene expression analysis, as well as clinical oncology, immunological, and transplantation diagnostic/monitoring reagents and analyzers. The BD Interventional segment provides hernia and soft tissue repair, biological and bioresorbable grafts, biosurgery, and other surgical products; surgical infection prevention; peripheral intervention products; and urology and critical care products. The company was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

About Aethlon Medical

Aethlon Medical, Inc., a medical therapeutic company, focuses on developing products to treat cancer and life-threatening infectious diseases in the United States. It develops Hemopurifier, a clinical-stage immunotherapeutic device that removes tumor-derived exosomes and life-threatening viruses and use in organ transplantation. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is based in San Diego, California.