Icon Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 488.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,673 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 3,049 shares during the quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $720,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,723 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $314,544,000 after purchasing an additional 788,735 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the third quarter worth approximately $108,243,000. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BDX traded down $1.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $224.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,677,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,706,772. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $235.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $234.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.43.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. Becton, Dickinson and Company's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. 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.