Becton, Dickinson and Company Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.04 (NYSE:BDX)

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 1.04 per share by the medical instruments supplier on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 35 years. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a payout ratio of 26.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Becton, Dickinson and Company to earn $15.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.5%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BDX traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $249.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,741,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,983,254. 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 stock has a market cap of $72.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $228.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.31. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $250.91.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,377,840. This represents a 8.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,380,488.45. This represents a 15.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,844 shares of company stock valued at $2,210,716. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on BDX shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock 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 seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.00.

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.

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