Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 119,199 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 4,415 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $27,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted 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 boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,510,050,000 after buying an additional 111,101 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 460,440 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $720,089,000 after buying an additional 1,317,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,984,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $697,513,000 after buying an additional 89,157 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David Shan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,377,840. This trade represents a 8.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total transaction of $990,787.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,380,488.45. The trade was a 15.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,844 shares of company stock worth $2,210,716 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

BDX opened at $243.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $70.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.02, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $218.75 and a 52-week high of $248.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.88.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 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.