Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Stock Holdings Lessened by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. cut its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,031 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 956 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $2,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BDX. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $767,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $720,089,000 after buying an additional 1,317,723 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,382,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 561,040 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $135,267,000 after acquiring an additional 12,845 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,844,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $647,082,000 after acquiring an additional 673,568 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX stock opened at $240.21 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $248.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $227.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.83. 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 firm has a market cap of $69.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.44, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.39.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) 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. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. 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 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total value of $990,787.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,380,488.45. The trade was a 15.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Shan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,741 shares in the company, valued at $1,377,840. The trade was a 8.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,844 shares of company stock valued at $2,210,716 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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 research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.50.

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.