John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Has $5.96 Million Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 2,241.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,250 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,129 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $5,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,953,116 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,364,096,000 after purchasing an additional 106,616 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,844,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $647,082,000 after buying an additional 673,568 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.6 %

BDX stock opened at $225.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $64.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.47, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.40. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve month high of $251.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a fifty day moving average of $233.08 and a 200-day moving average of $233.02.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 8.47%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 69.10%.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.99, for a total transaction of $159,593.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,215,163.67. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the business’s 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,544 shares of company stock worth $2,370,309 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BDX. StockNews.com downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.29.

Becton, Dickinson and 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.