New England Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 23,215 Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

New England Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 23,215 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $5,267,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,558 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,060 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $105,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,598,960. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total transaction of $94,497.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,107.36. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,578 shares of company stock valued at $795,986. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $175.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $207.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.48. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52 week low of $163.33 and a 52 week high of $251.99.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 15.74%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.39%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.