Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 56,228 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Free Report) by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 480,387 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 56,228 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.17% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $115,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BDX. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $314,544,000 after purchasing an additional 788,735 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $655,149,000 after purchasing an additional 688,296 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $108,243,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 346,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the first quarter valued at $75,493,000. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James reduced their price target 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. Citigroup raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BDX stock traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $224.10. 1,319,479 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,409,970. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52 week low of $218.75 and a 52 week high of $249.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average of $236.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.00. The company has a market capitalization of $64.77 billion, a PE ratio of 37.90, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.43.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.97%.

Becton, Dickinson and 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.