Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Sold by City Holding Co.

City Holding Co. trimmed its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,875 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 196 shares during the period. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,953,116 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,364,096,000 after acquiring an additional 106,616 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,513 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,510,050,000 after purchasing an additional 111,101 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,365,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,293,635,000 after purchasing an additional 460,440 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,181,483,000 after buying an additional 302,893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $720,089,000 after buying an additional 1,317,723 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Shana Carol Neal sold 788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $185,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,807,235. This represents a 4.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total transaction of $990,787.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,345 shares in the company, valued at $5,380,488.45. This represents a 15.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,747 shares of company stock valued at $1,949,520. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BDX stock opened at $237.57 on Tuesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $218.75 and a 1 year high of $248.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.90 billion, a PE ratio of 40.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $227.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $232.64. 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 (NYSE:BDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 70.03%.

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.