Avior Wealth Management LLC Increases Stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,769 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 847 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,938 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,558 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 58.3% during the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Magnus Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter valued at $330,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 157,338 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,695,000 after buying an additional 37,219 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total value 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 $5,380,488.45. The trade was a 15.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Shan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,377,840. This represents a 8.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,844 shares of company stock worth $2,210,716. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut 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 raised their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:BDX opened at $240.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $69.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.44, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.39. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $227.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.83. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52 week low of $218.75 and a 52 week high of $248.42.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $1.04 dividend. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s 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.