Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 91,229 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 331.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 118,779 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,229 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $18,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 22,225.2% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 40,711,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $790,079,000 after buying an additional 40,528,680 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position 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 worth $979,290,000 after buying an additional 5,174,944 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 4,223,149 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23,219.2% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 4,137,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $734,321,000. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BDX shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $177.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on 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. Seven equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.29.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.66, for a total value of $160,226.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 13,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,633.52. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $404,511.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,122,355.05. This represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 5,188 shares of company stock worth $765,120 over the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

NYSE BDX opened at $153.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.21. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.59 and a fifty-two week high of $187.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.33%.

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.