World Investment Advisors Has $4.56 Million Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,141 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 4,984 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $4,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BDX. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9,056.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,232,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $979,290,000 after buying an additional 5,174,944 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,678,939 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,118,282,000 after buying an additional 4,223,149 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 11,646,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,260,139,000 after buying an additional 1,651,592 shares during the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,954,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $553,068,000 after buying an additional 852,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $152,931,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BDX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $233.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $167.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $170.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $184.86.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $144.50 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $127.59 and a twelve month high of $187.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.22.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.13. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. Analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.61 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.33%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 0% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 953 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $174,027.33. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 36,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,713,291.43. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,102 shares of company stock valued at $198,909. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. BD’s products are used by healthcare institutions, clinical laboratories, life science researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to enable safe, effective delivery of care, specimen collection and diagnostic testing. The company’s operations span multiple business areas focused on medical devices, life sciences research tools and interventional technologies.

BD’s product portfolio includes single-use medical devices such as syringes, needles, needlesafety and injection systems, infusion therapy and medication management solutions, as well as vascular access, urology and oncology devices acquired through its interventional business.