Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Has $495,000 Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,052 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 151 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,317,723 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $655,149,000 after buying an additional 688,296 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,365,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,293,635,000 after buying an additional 460,440 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the third quarter worth about $108,243,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 62.2% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,107,317 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $266,974,000 after acquiring an additional 424,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $283.50.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total transaction of $990,787.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,380,488.45. This trade represents a 15.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.7 %

BDX stock opened at $225.49 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $218.75 and a 1-year high of $249.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $231.00 and its 200-day moving average is $233.34. The firm has a market cap of $65.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.41.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.03%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Company Profile

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.