Milford Funds Ltd. Acquires New Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Milford Funds Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 269,491 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $52,300,000. Milford Funds Ltd. owned approximately 0.09% of Becton, Dickinson and Company at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9,056.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,232,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $979,290,000 after purchasing an additional 5,174,944 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $7,118,282,000 after buying an additional 4,223,149 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23,219.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,155,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $769,397,000 after buying an additional 4,137,888 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter worth $734,321,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,651,592 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,100 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.48, for a total transaction of $166,628.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,161,922.56. This trade represents a 7.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total transaction of $404,511.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,122,355.05. The trade was a 2.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,013 shares of company stock worth $593,434. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BDX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Argus dropped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $230.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.8%

Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $146.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a PEG ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $127.59 and a 1 year high of $187.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $150.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.05.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.33%.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.