Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 48.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,623 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 48,125 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $12,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $314,544,000 after acquiring an additional 788,735 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $655,149,000 after buying an additional 688,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,031,167,000 after purchasing an additional 346,720 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the first quarter worth about $75,493,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,181,483,000 after purchasing an additional 302,893 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on BDX shares. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX traded down $2.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $225.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,965,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,528,964. The company has a market cap of $65.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.90, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $218.75 and a 52-week high of $249.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $234.99.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. Becton, Dickinson and Company's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Becton, Dickinson and Company's payout ratio is currently 63.97%.

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.