Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Holdings Trimmed by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC cut its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 167,261 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 28,597 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $37,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake 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. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 176,097 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,951,000 after acquiring an additional 20,859 shares in the last quarter. Busey Bank grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Busey Bank now owns 66,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $15,031,000 after acquiring an additional 2,399 shares during the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter worth $8,382,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,844,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $647,082,000 after purchasing an additional 673,568 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 1,940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.91, for a total transaction of $436,325.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,666,808.01. The trade was a 20.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 700 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.99, for a total value of $159,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,215,163.67. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,578 shares of company stock valued at $795,986. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on BDX shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $279.00 to $261.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $272.86.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.4 %

Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $205.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $193.03 and a 12 month high of $251.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $218.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.33. The stock has a market cap of $58.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.35.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.10%.

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.