Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,199 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $767,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,317,723 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $655,149,000 after purchasing an additional 688,296 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 460,440 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $108,243,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,107,317 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $266,974,000 after buying an additional 424,487 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BDX. Citigroup raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $283.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of BDX traded up $6.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $227.17. 3,489,563 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,454,273. The company has a market cap of $65.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.41. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $218.75 and a 1 year high of $249.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $231.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. Becton, Dickinson and Company's payout ratio is presently 70.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Roland Goette sold 638 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.03, for a total transaction of $139,741.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,113,949.51. The trade was a 4.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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.