Sone Capital Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Sone Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,039 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $916,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 176,097 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,951,000 after buying an additional 20,859 shares during the last quarter. Busey Bank boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Busey Bank now owns 66,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $15,031,000 after buying an additional 2,399 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 152,293 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $34,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Finally, Phraction Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Phraction Management LLC now owns 47,021 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $10,668,000 after purchasing an additional 3,138 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 1.8%

BDX stock opened at $175.37 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $163.33 and a 12 month high of $251.99.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 15.74%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $105,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,952 shares in the company, valued at $1,598,960. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total value of $94,497.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,887 shares in the company, valued at $964,107.36. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,878 shares of company stock valued at $636,393. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $279.00 to $261.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.44.

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.