Legal & General Group Plc Grows Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,930,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,041 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $374,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 20.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,977 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23.9% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 5,149 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 365.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 31,876 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,491,000 after purchasing an additional 25,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 34.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,501 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,048,000 after purchasing an additional 6,058 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $147.73 on Wednesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $127.59 and a 12-month high of $187.35. The company has a market cap of $40.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.40, a PEG ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $152.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.65.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 106.33%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 0% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BDX. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $170.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Argus lowered 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. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.86.

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.